Afterimages
by Azecreth
Summary: On one special night of the year, the veil between the real world and the afterlife is at it's thinnest. And it is tonight that three magical girls each have their own unexpected meeting with someone who has gone beyond, and in the process confront their fears, regrets, and flaws, to emerge all the stronger for it [Holiday fic]
1. Mami

**A/N: So, this is what I've been working on instead of MaOLL because I got creative and got sidetracked. Sue me. I expect this will be a triple shot, so it should be fun. Also, headcanon abounds, I apologize, and I apologize as well for an OOC-ness of the characters I draw from other related works that aren't the anime, because I haven't read/played them.  
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**Now that you have been fairly warned, on with the show**

* * *

_Samhain: Celebrated between October 31 and November 1, one of the four 'Great Sabbat's in Wiccan culture that sits opposite Beltane, also known as Walpurgisnacht. A festival of darkness, during which those who died are celebrated, and the veil between this world and the afterlife is at it's thinnest._

Mami Tomoe stepped lively through the halls of Mitakihara Middle School with her head held high, a warm smile on her face and a calm demeanor that drew the attention of all she passed, if the twin drill hairstyle she had didn't do that already.

That attention may have had as much to do with her outfit as it did with her aura of friendliness and general popularity though, she was dressed to impress, her current outfit a departure from the usual school uniform, but it was a change that no one objected to, as far as she could tell anyway, and certainly not at this moment.

She wore a strapless dress which stretched to cover her not inconsiderable bust, divided into several layered sections by frills at the end of each portion, The top part of the dress was orange, with the space between her cleavage white with an orange flower in the middle. The next layer was a shade of mustard yellow, shifting into a repeat of the orange on top, followed then by an orange-red, and terminating at her knees with a small layer of magenta, the different colors blending well as her shifting form let the dress move and change which ones had prominence. She wore brown stockings and orange shoes that were tied with red ribbons. On her upper right arm she wore a small, slightly frilly white armband, and on her hands she wore orange gloves, those held in place by red ribbons tied with bows as well.

Her hair was dressed up in her usual dual drill style, but she had augmented it with pearl earrings, a pearl necklace, an orange bow atop her head with a brass brooch next to it, and a fluff of white fur next to that in turn to complete the image. Add in some tactful application of makeup, and she cut herself as quite the sight to behold.

She wasn't the only one dressed up though. Far from it. Billowing capes, a mishmash of styles, and a bevy of colors confronted her as students moved through the hallways, with some outfits familiar and some not. People dressed up, the presence of costumes and teachers indifferent, jack-o-lanterns, black cats, ghosts, and other spooky decorations, led to one conclusion. It was Halloween.

This was one of the holidays that Mami actually enjoyed when it came around. It wasn't oriented towards family, which she lacked, or anything that could make her remember what she had lost. No, this was about dressing up in silly costumes, having a good scare, and otherwise having fun. And that was something she could appreciate. With all the hard work she put in with school and being a magical girl, bright moments like these were what she had to look forward to.

At first, she had opted to wear her magical girl outfit, to show off what she was now and let people see without it seeming weird or unusual. She didn't want to make people think she was going crazy or something. And in that she had gotten a good reception. But the days after the accident rolled past, and she became more and more involved in magical girl affairs, to the point where that was her life, and school was a break. She was still popular and all, but being a magical girl had become almost mundane for her. Halloween was about dressing up, being something other than yourself, and wearing her gunners costume wouldn't let her do that.

So she'd returned to dressing up in costumes like everyone else. In fact, this particular costume she had made herself, as something to do in her free time. Kyoko might find it silly (an opinion she had voiced numerous times when she was around) but Mami enjoyed it nonetheless, and now she had the chance to show off the results of her hard work.

By what she heard and saw, the comments as she walked past and the gazes that shifted to linger on her, Mami would say that it was a success. Not that she had deliberately set out to be a focus of attention, but if others put her in the spotlight she wouldn't refuse. If it lessened the loneliness she felt sometimes from the burden of responsibility, then so much the better.

A trio of girls approached her as she moved through one of the glass hallways, one dressed like a magician, another like a cheerleader, and a third like a pirate. Interesting choices, but Mami held off on making any judgment at the moment as they moved to pass by.

"Oh my, Mami, you look wonderful," said the lead girl, brandishing a plastic wand.

Mami bowed gratefully, her hands clasped in front of her. "Thank you Miyoka. You look good as well."

The cheerleader to the left hefted her red and white pom poms as she looked Mami over. "If you don't mind my asking, what is your costume?"

Mami was more than willing to answer that question, enjoying the interaction while it lasted. "Of course Hoshiko. I'm dressed up as a singer. Or pop star if you prefer." She'd wanted to be a singer before the accident, so the concept had appealed to her.

"Ah." Without any attempt to expand upon her comment, Mami was prepared to move past so she could get to her next class on time, but at the same time she was reluctant to go. This made it easy for her to be stopped by Miyoka. "Actually Mami, I'm having a Halloween party at my place tonight, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in coming. I know everyone would love to see you there."

Mami gave the offer the consideration that it deserved, unsure of what to say at the moment. She was inclined to go and be with peers and friends, which would be nice. But at the same time, she also had her responsibilities as a magical girl, which were a significant time investment, and she could never really predict how long it would take to handle the Wraiths that appeared every night.

Still, she was too polite to outright refuse, and there was always the possibility that she would actually have time to attend this party. "Sadly, I already have arrangements for tonight, but I'll come if I can," she relied with another small bow.

Miyoka and company accepted graciously, giving their own small bows in return. "Alright. I look forward to seeing you then. Do you need my address?"

Mami shook her head, dual drills swaying in the motion. "No, I think I can manage." The conversation ended there as Mami and the trio passed each other, each intent on their own destinations. She didn't regret her tacit acceptance of the offered invitation, but it did make her wonder and wish that she was once again a normal girl, to not be alone anymore and be able to enjoy such things, to enjoy life without worry. Those dark thoughts that seemed to haunt her as she pushed them below the surface once again, soaking in the attention directed hr way.

Lunch was on the roof, a meeting spot that had been decided via silent acclamation by the magical girl quartet back when it was a quartet. Kyoko wasn't actually supposed to come here since she didn't attend the school, and most of the time she didn't except when she snuck in, but it was a solid bet that either Mami or Homura would be up here.

The marble steps were calmly ascended, and Mami emerged into yellow sunlight, the sky dotted with small white clouds. There was a breeze, but it wasn't bothersome beyond ruffling her dress and trying to snatch the fur she wore from her grasp. And that she could prevent easily enough.

At the moment there was only one other person present up on the rooftop, and Mami made her way over to where Homura sat, seemingly absorbed in her own thoughts as she ate. Mami was a bit disheartened to see that Homura hadn't joined in the spirit of the holiday, but it wasn't entirely unexpected. Ever since Sayaka had been taken by the Law of the Cycle she had become more reclusive, withdrawn, more focused on magical girl affairs and solitary, hiding her emotions behind a brick wall. It was something Mami had tried to stop, but her attempts invariably met with varying degrees of failure.

"Hello Homura," Mami said with a bow before moving to take a seat near the magical girl.

The welcome drew her attention, and Mami noticed a rush of...something, through Homura's lavender eyes before Homura returned her attention to her food. It was recognition, hurt, and a confusing sea that threatened to overwhelm, and Mami could barely begin to comprehend it. "Hello Mami Tomoe," Homura replied, as formal and cold as usual. "You look well."

"Thank you," Mami replied, opening up her lunch and beginning to eat. "And how are your classes going?"

"Fine," Homura replied succinctly, working over her lunch with chopsticks and not doing anything to further the conversation.

Mami was quick to notice that the other girl's lunch had been mostly picked at, and not really eaten. "You should eat more. You'll need the energy," she advised, as she took her own advice.

Staring at her food with dull eyes, Homura took a few tentative bites, still pointedly ignoring looking at Mami for the most part. "Kyubey did say that the miasma had been thickening the past week."

Mami ate carefully, not wasting any of the home made meal as the remark brought back memories of a time as a younger magical girl. "That's right, this is your first Halloween isn't it."

Homura nodded her confirmation, and Mami began an explanation, while letting off a mental sigh at the other girls obsessive preoccupation with magical girl affairs, beyond what even Mami showed. "Halloween is an old holiday, about holding back oncoming darkness, and at the same time it intersects with a period where magical abilities and influence are heightened. This results in a swelling of emotions and powers that mean a surge in Wraith manifestation as the embodiment of human despair, and makes them stronger than usual around this time."

Concern bled through her expression as she looked over to the raven haired girl. "I really think you should reconsider working alone as you usually do, at least for the next couple nights. There is safety in numbers after all and we're better able to handle what threats may arise together."

It was a plea on the part of the blond, genuine concern for her welfare and safety, and a desire to crack that shell more and include the reclusive Homura in their activities. They were in this together, and had no reason to not work together.

She had to work to keep a disapproving frown away from her face as Homura shook her head. "If the Wraith are going to be more prevalent than usual, then it would be better for us to be separate, so we can cover more ground and ensure a maximum coverage of the city in a rapid fashion."

What she said made sense in the terms of the collection of Grief Cubes, but Mami couldn't help but wonder if Homura was underestimating how strong the Wraith would become with the swing in magical energy. It seemed impossible for her to not worry about her, as one of the remaining three magical girls in Mitakihara and as a friend. But she wasn't sure the feeling was reciprocated. After Sayaka died it was like Homura didn't trust her any more, and deliberately tried to not interaction with her. That light she had had seemed to die upon seeing the reality of the life they lived, and though she had tried, Mami just seemed unable to rekindle it.

Still, she wasn't about to turn this into an argument, not here, not now, and not without significant reason. She wanted them to be friends and cooperate, not cause further divisions by squabbling amongst themselves. That didn't help anyone. "If that is how you feel. Please be careful though." Her eyes fell as she spoke. "I don't want to lose you too."

Homura nodded and rose from her seat, packing up the remains of her lunch. "Rest assured Mami Tomoe, I have no intention of dying tonight." With a flip of her hair as she spun on her heels, Homura departed the rooftop, the conversation ended.

Somehow, Mami wasn't comforted by the confident statement, and she couldn't keep from dwelling on what might happen tonight, her appetite suddenly gone.

* * *

School had passed by and the sun now dipped towards twilight, painting the sky in a fusion of oranges and reds. The evening drew closer, when the Wraith would emerge from the shadows to walk the streets, and magical girls such as herself would sally forth to fight them for the soul of humanity. It was an ironically simple, yet time consuming lifestyle that she lived.

Mami hummed to herself as she worked in the kitchen, doing a bit of clean up from the last meal she had prepared for later as she waited for Kyoko to arrive so they could go out on patrol. She didn't mind the wait, even though being with Kyoko could sometimes be a hassle, since it gave her the desired company of one who was more similar to her than any of her classmates. And with their previous issues resolved, Mami found herself enjoying the time she shared with the feisty red head.

Fortunately, the wait was not a long one as the door shuddered from a series of jarring impacts. Mami carefully laid down the towel she held and preemptively sighed in slight annoyance as she moved to the front door. It swung open to reveal Kyoko in her magical girl uniform already, a couple plastic bags full of candy hanging on the spear she had resting on her shoulder.

"Yo. Smells good in here," Kyoko commented as she stepped inside, brushing past her senior.

"Thank you," Mami replied gratefully as she stepped outside to check on the bucket of candy she had placed by the front door, in lieus of her actually being there to greet visitors. Unsurprisingly, a good portion of what the bucket had started with was missing, and a culprit conveniently presented herself as Kyoko stretched out on the couch, looking out to the painted skyline as she began to rummage through the bags with her for a treat to snack on.

This position meant that she couldn't see Mami, who approached Kyoko form behind with that ever present smile on her face, and a purplish black aura emanating around her. While the hair on the back of kyoko's neck prickled in reaction, making her wonder what was up, it wasn't soon enough for her. A whack to the back of the head landed as Mami grabbed one of the other candy filled plastic bags and pulled it away from Kyoko's short, desperate lunge.

"Oww, what was that for," Kyoko protested as she rubbed the impact zone on her skull, making that halfhearted lunge for her departing candy.

"Now Kyoko, you know that that candy was for trick-or-treaters. Not magical girls with inexhaustible appetites," Mami replied cheerfully as she made her way back to the entrance to empty the appropriated bag into her bucket of candy before closing the front door and returning to the living room.

"Hey, I'm a trick-or-treater too," Kyoko called as Mami returned from the front door.

Back, Mami walked over to the kitchen and poured two cups of tea, one for her and the other for Kyoko. "Yes, but that is no excuse for you to take candy from me, especially when I provide you with so much food already."

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Kyoko was still somewhat disgruntled, yet she accepted the tea cup with nary a complaint. "So, we expecting Tall, Dark, and Grumpy to show up tonight?"

Taking a measured sip of tea, Mami shook her head as she lowered the cup. "Homura believes it is wiser that we split up to cover more ground, so she will be patrolling on her own as usual." she tried to keep her disapproval out of her tone, but she couldn't tell whether she had succeeded or not.

Laying her own cup on the table, Kyoko put her hands behind her head as she leaned back. "Man, she's stubborn, ain't she? It's almost like she doesn't like us." That was accompanied by a shrug. "Oh well. More Grief Cubes for me."

Mami felt something along the same lines as Kyoko, though not with the same casual disregard for Homura's well being and opinion on the gathering of Grief Cubes. For the moment though it couldn't be helped, much as they might try, so they would continue on as they had in the past few months. It hurt though, to see Homura more receptive to Kyoko than herself, as if there was some bond built up and trust there that their own relationship lacked, and Mami didn't know how to create it.

"I am a bit worried," she admitted. "This is her first time experiencing Halloween, so I'm not sure if she's prepared for how strong the Wraith will be compared to normal."

Kyoko picked up her cup and finished the tea she had before shrugging again. "I'm sure she'll be fine. I mean, she has freaking wings and all." Her opinion given, Kyoko returned to her bag of candy, pulling out a mini twix bar to eat.

"Yes, I suppose you're right." Mami's worry still wasn't dismissed, though she fell silent. With only three girls to watch over Mitakihara, she wasn't sure she could handle losing another one, not even one as aloof as Homura was. Not that she voiced those fears. They had a job to focus on after all.

Finishing her tea in turn, Mami glanced over to see the position of the sun in the sky, purple starting to sneak it's way into view, the town still busy as holiday goers took to the streets for the night's festivities. Somewhere down there was a party that she would not be attending, but she had other things to consider for the moment. "Well then, shall we be going?"

"Sure." Kyoko fairly jumped up, stretching a bit and leaving her candy behind as she moved to the window. "Better hurry up then, or I'll be done by the time you show up," she half taunted, before opening the window and jumping out, landing on a rooftop below.

Mami shook her head with a smile as Kyoko departed via rooftop before rising as well. Her Soul Gem materialized, shining with bright golden amber light, and she clasped it tightly between her palms as she spun about, releasing magical energy as she transformed to magical girl. When it faded away she stood in her gunners outfit, and she wasted no time in going after Kyoko.

Rooftops were vaulted over as the two moved in tandem and scanned below, a growing white mist permeating the streets below that only they could see, and in which normal people walked unawares. Wraith dwelt in the miasma, gathering where it was thickest, and that made it that much harder for the two of them, with innocent civilians possible in the crossfire of a fight. The miasma was particularly thicker tonight, making it harder to find Wraith to start. Kyubey wasn't around to help, but if they needed him he would probably appear.

Mami was alert and focused as they patrolled, looking for their foe. The sooner they found them, the less likely it was that innocent people would get hurt by the Wraith. And that was something she would prevent at any cost. _Do you see any_, she asked telepathically.

_Nah, not yet_, Kyoko replied. There was a pause, before an addendum to the message came. _Maybe we should split up after all. Just so we can find them faster. _

_Alright,_ Mami ceded. _But stay in telepathic range. And be careful._

_Please, 'careful's my middle name,_ Kyoko said with a fanged smirk. _I'll let you know if I find any good packs_. And with a flash of red she departed, leaving Mami to scout alone.

Mami's focus returned to the searching out where the Wraith that had to be in the area where. For those who currently enjoyed the life she had given up, she would not allow harm to come to them at the hands of these creatures. But she had to find them first. And that was proving frustratingly hard.

The miasma thickened, ebbed and flowed like an engulfing sea of white laced energy. The Wraith swam in this sea like sharks searching for prey, and she was a hunter. Her magical signature and soul gem would be the tools she used to flush out the Wraith, and then dispatch them.

There was a pulse at last, a thrum of energy that resonated with her soul gem and sang through her bones, a pulse she was all too familiar with. She took on a determined expression as she altered her path to aim towards where the sensation had come from, and preparing at the same time to summon muskets at a moments notice. She briefly considered contacting Kyoko to inform her that she had found some Wraith, but instead she held off, figuring that she should at least see how many Wraith she had to deal with before doing so.

A rooftop crested, and she pulled to a halt as what she was searching for came into view. There were four Wraith, masked figures with white robes that obscured the rest of their bodies, shimmering black forms lurking beneath the cover. They moved together as a group, coordinating action without any audible communication as they searched for prey, weaving through the white mist.

Mami paused to calculate the odds before she sprang into action, literally jumping off the rooftop to land on the ground before she flipped off her beret and waved it in front of her, rifles dropping from the opening in the headgear to land muzzle first on the ground. They stood in a row, silver glittering in the light as Mami returned the beret to her head and got to work.

Smooth, practiced motions brought an additional musket to her shoulder and she took careful aim down the sights of the barrel at the nearest Wraith before firing. She felt a bit of energy slip away as the gun slammed in her grip, a magically formed bullet exiting the barrel to hit the target dead on. The Wraith jolted from the impact and the others reacted, but she moved in a smooth rhythm while she had the element of surprise, using the recoil from the shot to toss the gun away before grabbing another gun and firing again, each hitting with pinpoint accuracy on the part of the expert marksman.

Magical ammunition hit home, punching through white pseudo-fabric to rip at the black form beneath, causing a ghoulish shriek of pain and anger to emanate from the unmoving mask that looked like a frowning face. Current stock of weapons depleted, Mami leapt away as beams of red magical energy flew towards her, hitting where she had just been and shattering the concrete.

Landing with steady feet, Mami summoned another musket and fired. The Wraith didn't have much more to say as a hole appeared in its mask, and peppered with shots as it was, it died in an explosion of magical energy. Wind whipped from the death of the thing, and grief cubes clattered to the ground for Mami to retrieve at her convenience. That was one less to deal with.

The remaining three moved in then, more arcing beams of magic headed her way as the trio surged forward. Wispy, almost formless black limbs slipped from concealing white cloaks to strike fast and hard, sweeping through the space ahead and ripping through the white mist that flowed around them.

Mami hopped away ahead of the attacks and pulled out two more muskets as she landed, quickly reorienting and firing before making a backwards leap out of the way of the retaliatory strike. Graceful twists and spins let her bring her summoned weapons to bear as she fired in a rapid pace at the Wraith, shifting her target from one to another, pirouetting with guns barking all the while.

The Wraith struck back though as bullets poked holes in their white cloaks, and Mami soon found it harder to move as the Wraith switched to a more insidious tactic. Glancing down, she found small strands of white mist wrapping themselves around her arms, legs, and torso, making it feel like she was trying to move underwater as the miasma thickened around her and resisted her movements.

"You're going to have to try harder than that," Mami said to the unanswering Wraith, undaunted by this turn of events. She kept her calm and forced herself to greater efforts of exertion to resist the hindering influence upon her with the aid of magic, a tactic that was fairly effective. She jumped back on her heels as a blade of wispy black stabbed at her while she acclimated to the change, catching her clothes but not hitting skin.

In response, more guns were brought to her grasp as she dual fired at select points, using the space the attack gave her as the targeted Wraith shuddered under the double impact to throw out ribbons at her surroundings, lashing around a metal street pole that she used to yank herself some distance away from the trio.

Landing with a slight huff, yet gracefully, Mami twirled her hat for another batch of guns at her call, repeating the process she had established. The stream of firepower hit the already injured Wraith and delivered the death blow, a shriek echoing forth as it dispelled in the same manner as the first.

The remaining two didn't seem phased by this turn of events and surges forward, beams of magic issuing forth from their eyes and white cloaks flapping from the rapid movement. Mami danced backwards as they advanced, firing as she went while the miasma persisted in clinging to her. Her opponents were moving faster though, forcing her to move faster as well. Battle damage started to accumulate, scratches and light wounds received from near impacts and flashing, cloudy black limbs.

Her soul gem gradually darkened through use as she crafted ribbons and muskets, bands of red and yellow lashing out to trap the Wraith so they were motionless for her weapons fire. She got in a few punishing shots with this tactic, but the Wraith twisted, writhed, and her ribbons severed with a snap of dissipating magic, forcing her to move once more.

Now Mami was slightly worried. The effects of tonight were showing at last as the night deepened, since the Wraith should not have normally been able to escape her ribbons as easily as they did, much less the current manipulation of the miasma that was working to her detriment. Sure, it was to be expected, but it didn't make it any less concerning. She wouldn't back down though, not with only two left in this group.

In the air, she summoned a spinning wheel of muskets, each individually aligning on it's target in a rapid fashion before firing and then rotating to a fresh gun in the circle. She landed in a crouch, but before she could move again she was struck from behind, a trio of beams tearing at her clothes and skin, earning a cry of pain as Mami was sent stumbling from the blow.

As she recovered she spun about to confront her attacker, eyes widening as she found four more Wraith looming in front of her as if answering a summon by those she was already fighting, and she had to quickly move out of the way as more beams flared through the air, her skin warm from the nearness of the attacks and the power involved.

The situation had taken a dramatic turn for the worse, and it was now that Mami reached out telepathically to enlist her partners assistance before she suffered for it. _Kyoko, I've found some Wraith and could use your help, if you'd be so kind as to assist me._

There was silence in response, nothing except dead air to give her an answer. Eyes widened as Mami clung to her calm composure, dodging and firing with actions growing more agitated the while. _Kyoko, are you there? Is everything alright? Please, answer me. Kyoko!_

Her broadcasted thoughts grew more frantic the longer the silence persisted. While it was possible that the troublesome redhead just wasn't in range of communication via telepathy, she couldn't stop herself from assuming the worst, that her pupil was in danger and she wasn't there to help, if not already gone. It might have been irrational to think, but she wasn't going to take any chances. Not with someone she cared so much about.

With that consideration in mind she leapt high into the air, magic flaring out as she formed a veritable wall of muskets, aimed it in the direction of the tightest concentration of Wraith, and fired. Thunder filled the air as the wall exploded, sending a hail of magical bullets raining downward. Some hit, and were destroyed by the volley, but to her surprise and shock, many of the Wraith flickered and vanished just before the storm could hit, leaving only white miasma behind.

Frantic amber eyes swept the area as she came down, hoping to catch the Wraith when they reappeared as she brought out more muskets to use. Then just as abruptly as they had vanished, there were three looming to her side and she was struck again, a painful blow to the torso that she nonetheless overcame to return fire.

A cry split the night, drawing her attention away from the fight at hand as more attacks lanced around her. Mami chose to ignore those thought to see what the source of the noise was, firing in motion as she sped towards it.

Vaulting around a corner, she saw the missing Wraith advancing down a dead end alleyway towards a group of teenagers, all too evidently intent on feeding on the fear and despair of their caught prey. She had a guess as to what it must look like to them, clouds of inky black mist advancing ominously, and their growing terror was obvious to see.

Mami wasn't about to let that continue though, and she fired as she bore, scoring a hit and causing the attention of the Wraith to be diverted from the teens to herself. "Your fight is with me, not them," she said firmly, before darting forward.

More muskets moved to her grasp as she closed in to fight, weaving around strikes as she shot the Wraith at point blank range. A low sweep brought her to a near flat angle, and the vertical fire of her weapon blew the mask off the Wraith she nearly touched, revealing the formless blackness beneath it before she snapped back up and spun, finishing it off with a concussive slam to the head area.

The Wraith swarmed around her, tall pillars of white with golden brown weaving between them as black ephemeral limbs slashed and magical energy flowed back and forth. It left her the worse for wear, to be sure, yet she persevered. In spite of the enhancements her magic provided, her muscles began to burn from exertion, from the effort she put in in the defense of these teens and from the restraining hold the miasma had upon her. But she had the situation under control, at least in her minds eye, as the number of Wraith dwindled.

It was a dance, a devastating ballet of fighting, and one she was well versed in, yet even Mami couldn't predict all the moves in this dance. Not tonight of all nights, when her enemies were stronger than they usually were.

Mid motion, a looping sweep that would give her a wide range of fire, she was taken by surprise as one of the Wraith reoriented and attacked. Not her though, but the teens still there, cowering in the back of the alleyway. The ones she had come here to protect.

"No," she cried as she shifted and sprang forward, placing herself directly in the line of fire. At the same time she tossed out ribbons, wrapping out around the group and bodily throwing them up to a nearby rooftop where they would (hopefully) be safe. Mami didn't have time to dwell on the possibility though as she was struck, thrown through the air by the hit with another cry of pain.

Her side and back hurt when she moved, wounds that she knew from experience were serious injuries. Her clothes that weren't black from the scorching were stained red with blood and yet she struggled to rise regardless of that. She felt the pain slip away as she focused on severing the connection between her dulling soul gem and her body, isolating the pain that afflicted her so she could keep fighting.

She shakily rose, another musket trembling in her grip as she held back grimaces of pain, but she was struck before she could fire, a trio of blasts sending her to he ground again. Her vision blurred as her body screamed in pain despite her efforts to isolate herself from that even further. Her head rose haltingly as she tried to stand up, to see the remaining Wraith circled around her, ominous in stance and garb as miasma leaked between them to cover her.

She lashed out with ribbons, but those were evaded with swift movements backwards, and then she couldn't hit anymore. They struck again, and again, pummeling her body with hammer blows of magic and their limbs as her magic drained and her mind faded. All her efforts to summon guns or use her ribbons were for naught, and a blanket of general, all consuming pain descended upon her.

_Kyoko, I'm...sorry,_ she thought sadly as her eyes closed and reality left her. There was a flash of pink, and then oblivion.

* * *

Cool mint tea met her lips as Mami sipped from the cup she had prepared. At least, she thought she had. Closed eyes flickered open to find herself in her apartment, everything as she had left it before going out on patrol, and a full moon high in the sky. She was wrapped in a comforting atmosphere, one that filled her with warmth and made her instinctively want to sigh in contentment.

There was a single intrusion into this aura of peace and calm, and yet even she felt like she belonged here. Warm eyes settled upon the girl with short brown hair that sat across from Mami, holding a teacup of her own from which small wisps of steam rose. She had green eyes and light freckles, though she was shorter than Mami, and wore a plaid green skirt with a white top, a silver bracelet on her left wrist as well.

"This is good tea," the girl commented, voice soft in tone.

"Thank you," Mami replied with a grateful smile, slipping ever into the guise of hostress before she paused in thought. "I'm sorry, do I know you? There's something familiar about you but I can't remember your name." She hated to forget someone's name, and knew it was annoyingly on the tip of her tongue, but she just couldn't grasp it.

Fortunately for her, if the girl was offended she didn't show it. "It's alright Ms. Tomoe. It's been a long time."

"Please, call me Mami," Mami interjected.

The girl nodded before taking on a distant distant look in her eye as she thought back. "We met in a park, near night time a couple years ago. It was shortly after you became a magical girl, and you found me and my mother being attacked by Wraith. You came and fought them, but it was too late for me in the end."

Eyes widened as her words made Mami recall that incident, and her hands took on a visible tremble as her heart panged. "You were...her," she asked, voice shaking.

The girl nodded quietly as Mami struggled with the surge of emotions that the confirmation sparked. That had been shortly after the car accident, when she was still new to being a magical girl. During one of her erratic patrols around the city, she came upon a mother and her young child being attacked by Wraith in one of the city parks. She had leapt to their aid upon seeing it but the Wraith had been too strong, and she and they had killed the child, and nearly the mother as well. It was an event that haunted her to this day.

"Aiko Sakamoto, that was my name," the girl said softly, bringing her teacup to rest on the table between the two of them.

Mami nodded and memorized the name, burned it into her mind, so she would not forget if she had known before. "If you're here, then does that mean that...I'm dead? I'd like to think that this is heaven but I don't know if I deserve to go to such a place if it exists."

Aiko shook her head, softly smiling. "No, you aren't." There was a bit of a pause before she continued, revising her first statement. "Well, not really. You're more in a space somewhere between life a death. You could go back, or you could pass on. It hasn't been decided yet."

Not the most consoling thing, but Mami was willing to accept it, weird as it was. "If that is the case, then why are you here Aiko? You're older than I remember."

Aiko sat as respectfully as she had the entire time, but it was apparent that this question brought up her spirits some. "To see you," she replied. "I guess I'm, well, what you'd call the 'ghost of possibility', for lack of a better term. I'm what could have been if events were different, a future me."

Mami's breath caught in her throat as she looked on the girl in a new light, her heart lurching as she realized that this was what Aiko would have grown up to be, what she could have been if Mami had been stronger that night. It was a poignant reminder of her failure, and it hurt to look at, but she didn't turn away. Tears glistened in the corners of her eyes, but she fought all the same to hold them back and present a strong front.

Despite her effort, it appeared that Aiko was able to see the emotions running amok inside her. "That night, I know it meant a lot to you."

Mami nodded, trying and failing to keep from being flustered. "You were the first one I lost, just because I wasn't strong or smart enough yet." A slight frown grew as her hands busied themselves with idle work, pouring two new cups of tea from a nearby pot. "It's what made me take my responsibilities as a magical girl seriously."

Aiko had a nervous expression as well, which was odd from Mami's perspective given that she was already dead. "You don't have to blame yourself you know. You did all you could at the time."

Mami knew that in her head, she truly did, but in her heart she couldn't deny that most of the blame should rightfully fall on her in this affair. She was the one who could see the Wraith, who had the power to defeat them. She'd gone over that night so many times in her head, thinking of what she could have done differently. Perhaps she might not have been the magical girl she was if she succeeded, but Mami was willing to trade that pointless death for how she was now.

"That may be" she replied, taking a sip of her tea. "But to look back on it, I didn't try as hard as I could have. You were the first I lost, and I can't forget that, or forgive myself for my failure." Amber met jade as she looked at Aiko. "For all I struggle, I can't save everyone. You were the one to show me that. And if I can't, then what happiness do I deserve?"

Whatever answer Aiko may have been expecting, it seemed like she was almost disappointed, though Mami couldn't really say. "I'm glad you didn't forget me. But you've grown a lot since then, and even if you can't save everyone, you still try your hardest, and that's what's important. As long as you make that effort, you aren't letting anyone, including yourself, down."

Mami smiled a bit more, glad that Aiko apparently didn't hold any grudges over what had happened. It would be best to check and not leap to hasty conclusions though. "You don't have any regrets?"

Aiko paused in thought before giving her answer. "Regrets? I suppose I have a few. Things I was never able to do, places I was never able to visit, people I could never see because my time was cut short, but I'm not bitter about it. It's just what was fated to happen. I forgave you a long time ago."

Her racing heart slowed a bit as Mami calmed and relaxed, relieved to hear those words from her mouth. It was a visible weight off her mind and soul, and for that she was grateful. She took another sip of tea before glancing about. "Thank you," she said heartfelt emotions audible then, before she resumed her posture of pleasing hostess. "What is to happen to me?"

Aiko's nervousness had returned somewhat, her hands ruffling the hem of her skirt as she replied. "It's your decision Mami. If you want you can pass to the beyond, to join the Goddess and the rest of the magical girls in your final reward." She nodded to the side, and Mami's gaze was drawn to a door that had not been there previously. It was simple, wooden, without any adornments or embellishments, yet bright white light radiated from the frame, causing her to look away lest she be blinded. "Or you can return to the real world and the life you had." Another nod, and Mami looked to her front door, which seemed unchanged.

Almost inevitably, she looked back to the first door, the intensity of the glare somewhat lessened in the seconds she hadn't been looking at it. "I'll be with everyone? Even..." Her voice choked before she could finish, apprehension swelling inside her.

Aiko nodded in confirmation. "Yes, even Sayaka Miki, as well as your parents. They may not be magical girls, but you will still be able to see them there."

Mami's breath caught again, eyes trembling almost in reflex. To see them again, to be with her parents at last after she wasted her wish by not saving them as well, it was a riveting possibility. What would they think of her, of what she had become? Would they be proud of their girl, who had had to grow up so fast? And to have a respite from the neverending fighting at last, she wouldn't lie and say that she found the prospect unattractive. Sayaka was there too, and she was sure the bluenette would be glad to have some company after her death.

It was as if Aiko could read the very thoughts running through her mind as she spoke again to the slight distracted magical girl. "Though, you would be leaving people behind if you chose that option. Homura Akemi, Kyoko Sakura, and others. Even though you would be with Sayaka Miki and your parents again, how will those you've left behind feel when they find out that you've moved on?"

To Mami, her statement sounded an awful lot like Aik was trying to guilt trip her into going back to the life she had, yet she did have a point. It wasn't like she would be slipping away unnoticed. Friends, classmates, people who looked up to her and respected her as a person, she just couldn't abandon them like that, could she?

She glanced down, somewhat ashamed of herself and her selfishness. "You're right," she admitted, however reluctantly. "There are people who would miss me. Especially Kyoko. I think she sees me as the closest thing she has left to family. But i'm not sure Homura feels the same way. She's grown so cold to me recently that I don't think she would care too much if I was gone."

Aiko reached across the table, taking Mami's hand in hers as she emphatically shook her head. "Homura Akemi cares for you a lot, though she may not show it. She just has her own issues that she is struggling with, and her own way of dealing with them. But rest assured, you and Kyoko are two of the few people in this world that she truly trusts."

Another burden lifted away by the girls words, though it was almost immediately replaced by the worry of what Homura was struggling with that she felt she couldn't tell the rest of them. But that was something that Mami wouldn't learn here. She and Aiko rose together as the brunette let go of the magical girls hands, and they moved together to stand before the two doors, her two choices awaiting her action.

Aiko turned to face Mami and bowed deeply, smiling warmly the while. "It was a pleasure to meet you Mami, especially when I could still make a difference for you."

Mami shifted to face her companion in turn, shaking her head before bowing in turn. "No Aiko, the pleasure was mine, meeting you at last. It has been a heavy weight off my mind, and for that that I am grateful."

Aiko looked back over to the doors that waited for Mami, hands clasped as she stood there. "So what are you going to do?"

Mami took a step forward, looking between the two doors before returning her attention to Aiko, who would be able to see the confident smile the magical girl wore. It seemed her mind was made up. "I'm going to go back," she said, walking over to stand at her front door. "After all, I have people counting on me. Heaven can wait."

Placing a hand on the doorknob, she took a breath to ready herself for what she was about to do, before looking back at Aiko and giving her a happy wink to go with the warm atmosphere she was radiating. "Goodbye Aiko, I won't forget you."

"I know," Aiko replied calmly as Mami opened the door and resolutely moved through the gateway, vanishing after a few steps, back to the land of the living.

Alone now, Aiko looked up to the ceiling. "She's going to do amazing," she said to no one in particular, as the room faded away in a haze of bright white light, and there was nothingness.

* * *

"Haaa!' Breath, wonderfully clean air gasped down as Mami awoke from unconsciousness. She then broke into a hacking cough as she recovered, raising her head to assess the situation in between almost pained breathes. Everything was the same as it had been just when she became unconscious. Amazingly, apparently no time had passed in the duration of...whatever she had just experienced. The only difference, and a fairly major one at that, was that her reserve of magical energy was overflowing, easily enough to heal her wounds and do whatever she needed to for tonight.

Her sudden revival was noticed by the Wraith around her, and to their credit they were quick to react, but as they did Mami was already in motion, rising from where she had laid on the ground to stand amidst the circle of enemies once again. At the same time as she did that, ribbons snapped out and twisted at her command, molding themselves into firearms, but not her usual muskets. No they were shorter, with a flared opening at the end of each barrel, and through her rising motion Mami ended up with two aimed at Wraith on the opposite sides of the circle, while tracking her opponents.

"Apologies," she said, as if she was apologizing for spilling tea. "But you won't be killing me tonight."

Then she fired, guns bucking in her grasp with a roar as the two Wraith she had aimed at got facefuls of magical buckshot from the blunderbuss' she had crafted, killing them instantly. She spun, reloaded, and fired again just as quickly, taking down two more in a matter of moments before those who remained around her were able to flee, blinking away into the white mist.

Return fire came her way in the form of more red beams of magical energy, but she was done playing around and easily dodged those strikes, at the same time dislodging the hold the miasma had upon her. Now the situation was reversed, with her as the hunter and the Wraith as the prey, and she chased them with a calm determination, picking off another in flight as she alternated between the her blunderbuss and her muskets.

As they neared where this had all started, Mami swiftly moved forward and in for the kill, to end this at last. Ribbons swept outwards and caught up the Wraith, twisting and throwing them, lashing them firmly together in the middle of the street, with her magic keeping them from breaking free as they had before. Targets caught, Mami came to a stop before them, ready to deliver the finishing blow.

There was only one way really to do that, and she went about it with smooth familiarity, marshaling her energy for the attack before leaping into the air. Ribbons stretched out and changed shape, forming a large hand gun that she pointed directly at the Wraith, and with a cry of 'TIRO...FINALE", she fired. The Wraith were engulfed in the blast of magical energy and destroyed completely as Mami landed delicately, sipping tea from a teacup that she had produced seemingly from nowhere.

The fight most definitely over, Mami placed her teacup aside before walking over to where the Wraith had just been to retrieve the deposited grief cubes to hold on to for later, while at the same time checking her soul gem. To her surprise, it was glowing a bright yellow, brighter than it had been in a while, to the point where one might mistake it for a soul gem belonging to someone recently contracted, as unsullied by despair as it was.

Pocketing the collected grief cubes, Mami looked up to the midnight sky and bowed respectfully. "Thank you Aiko," she said to herself and to the long dead girl that had provided her with one last gift.

_Mami, who are you talking to?_ Her attention was drawn away form the stars to a nearby cluster of trash cans and dumpsters, from behind which emerged the white form of Kyubey, as if out of thin air.

"Just someone I once knew that happens to be important to me, that's all," she replied as she walked over to white alien.

_Really? I didn't see or hear anyone else with you_, Kyubey replied as it jumped up to stand atop one of the rusted brown dumpsters for a better vantage point of the street and of Mami.

Mami got a distant look in her eyes as she remember the meeting that had just happened. "She isn't here, not in the physical sense anyway. She died a long time ago. But I know she's up there among the stars, watching me and cheering me on."

Kyubey cocked its head in a gesture to express it's confusion. _I'll never understand you humans_, it announced. Talking_ to the dead without the assistance of a wish is incredibly unlikely, and the odds that a metaphysical entity such as the 'God' that most of your species believes in actually exists is astronomically low, and the existence of such a thing cannot be proven to any scientific degree as it is. To be honest, you sound like Homura Akemi when she talks about her Madoka Kaname._

Mami considered that for a second. Yes, it did sound somewhat like how Homura talked when she had tried to explain to both her and Kyoko about that girl Madoka that she claimed they once knew. She would have to give her more of a benefit of the doubt in the future. As it was, she wasn't all too surprised by Kyubey's lack of understanding, given the opinions it had expressed to her in conversation before.

"Be that as it may, I know she's there. I can feel it," Mami replied, having to keep from glancing up at the sky once more.

Kyubey seemed to let the matter drop before speaking up once more as it leapt across the gap to take up a position on Mami's shoulder, a careful balancing act it managed with ease. _It's a good thing I found you when I did though. Kyoko and Homura are in trouble and need your help._

Reminded of her mission and duty to those she cared about, Mami turned from the all too recent memories to the task at hand. "Well, let's not keep them waiting," she replied before moving into a sprint, Kyubey guiding her through the city on the way. The past could at last peacefully in the past, and she could focus on the present. She had friends to save, and she would not let them down.


	2. Kyoko

**A/N: Well, as promised, part 2 of 3. I suppose I may have done something write, since my beta reader, AnachronistRocketeer, has offered a free box of tissues to anyone reading this on account of feels. Or something. So if you feel as he does, then I've done my job. And give him some kudos as well for beta reading every PMMM piece I've put up thus far. Beta readers need some love**

**As well, thanks to all who left feedback on the previous chapter and showed they liked this story, it means a lot to know people appreciate what I'm writing. So fave, follow, leave a review or criticism, it all helps me get better.**

**Now then, on with the show.**

* * *

Downtown Mitakihara was certainly decked out for the season, dressed up in oranges, reds, and browns, with pumpkins, leaves, scarecrows, all the things that one would typically associate with Halloween. Costumes were on display, with rows of cheap candy and decorations such as tombstones and the like. Nothing that anyone wouldn't really expect to see on this day.

The atmosphere extended beyond storefronts as well, costumed individuals mixing with business suits, some people more in the spirit of the holiday than others, when they weren't beholden to work standards that kept them from joining in entirely.

One of those most definitely taken in by the spirit of the season was one Kyoko Sakura, walking down the street with a Pocky stick jutting from closed teeth. Not a care in the world, seemingly, her attention glided over those costumed figures, making judgments on their quality or lack thereof, an amusing past time that had her chuckling in amusement more often than not, smirking from how stupid some people could be when it came to costumes.

She had considered dressing up in a costume of her own, but had chosen not to. Fun as it might be, she wasn't going to sink so low as to steal a Halloween costume, or unceasingly badger Mami into getting her one, even if Mami would have agreed to eventually. She had standards after all, even if it didn't seem like it most of the time, and robbery for the sake of a holiday was definitely below that.

Instead, she settled for an alternative. Namely, wearing her magical girl outfit while ignoring the looks it got her in the process. Yeah, the giant red gem it had was a draw of attention, but most people probably thought it was a fake anyway, which left just how her figure was affected by the outfit. Honestly, she wasn't concerned about it, and she was enjoying herself too much anyway. This was her true self, her real skin, on display. She was a Magical Girl and she embraced that identity, and today she got to show it off.

"Hm, what should I do," she asked herself as she moved along at a slow walk, past a group of guys idling by themselves. Mami and Homura were both in school, sucked to be them, and wouldn't be able to hang out until the afternoon. Meaning that she had quite a bit of time to herself.

A shrug, and she checked her pockets to see how much cash she had on her at the moment. "Well, I guess I'll just go to the arcade," she said at last. "That should be enough time until I can go out and start with the real work."

A decision having been made, she shifted to a more brisk pace, puling out another Pocky stick for consumption as she beelined for the arcade she usually frequented. It had fun games, cheap prices, and decent food, making it a solid spot to hang out at, especially for a person with a lot of free time like Kyoko.

Of course, she wasn't totally blind, so she managed to notice the tail she had picked up. The chatting group of guys she had passed before were now following after her, wearing an eclectic assortment f costumes, and doing a decent job of making it not seem totally obvious. But, sadly, she had noticed, and her danger senses had picked up as a result.

So, Kyoko being Kyoko, she decided to bait out and confront that danger, so she could settle it all now. There was no need to dance around the issue, whatever problem this group had with her. She made a sharp turn and headed down an alley between stores, past open chain link fences and trash cans until they were in a wider area, out of sight from the street.

At that point Kyoko came to a stop and sighed, glancing over her shoulder at the gang. "You guys gonna keep following me, or are you gonna say what you want?"

The gang pulled up, looking awfully confident of themselves, and glances and smirks where shared amongst the various members. "Yeah, sure," the apparent leader said as he stepped forward, separating himself from the group. "We were just thinking that we could all spend the day together. You don't look busy, and me and the boys can show you a good time."

After a moment, Kyoko turned away and snorted, not having even considered that stupid request. "Not interested," she replied dismissively.

Not surprisingly, the gang didn't seem to take this rejection of their offer very well. They did have guts, which was a bit of credit to them. "Alright. Well, I suppose we'll just have to be a bit more persuasive." he gestured to the side, and the rest of the gang advanced on the nonplussed Kyoko, some pulling out switchblades in the process.

"While you're doing that, mind if I ask you something," Kyoko said without looking at the men advancing on her.

The leader shrugged, willing to be a bit considerate. "Sure, go ahead."

"What do you think of my spear," Kyoko asked in turn as she spun about, revealing the weapon that came with her magical girl powers. The head caught and glittered in the sunlight, and she watched their gaze travel from her, to it, and then rapidly back, watching them come to a slow realization as her hand rested on her hip in a confident pose.

Sadly, the leader swiftly recovered from this sudden revelation with a smirk of his own. "Nice prop," he complimented. "You almost had me fooled for a second. But that thing isn't real. No way. Put the toy down and don't make this hard on yourself."

"Oh, you think so," Kyoko asked with all too obvious anticipation, looking around for a few seconds before she found the perfect demonstration. Walking over to a left over pumpkin, she checked to make sure they were watching, which they were. Time for a show.

She shifted her stance in preparation, the toe of her foot pushing under the edge of the pumpkin, and then she leapt into action. A swift kick took it airborne, rising past her head in a near vertical arc as it spun. At that point she struck out, spear stabbing and twirling in her hands, whistling in the air as it cut through tough exterior and soft interior. Horizontal, vertical, a flurry of spinning strikes that ended with tattered remains and churned pulp dropping to the ground in a mess.

A triumphant look on her face, Kyoko planted the butt of the spear on the asphalt, the metal head still pristine and shining, and looked defiantly at the stunned gang. "So, who wants to try first?"

To say they were intimidated would be an epic understatement, her display accompanied by gasps of surprise and shock, and as she turned to face them, it was enough to get a majority to break, choosing discretion as the better part of valor as they cut and ran.

"Hey, get back here you cowards! It's not like we don't have weapons either," the leader called as he tried to rally his men, pulling a loaded handgun from his pocket.

"Tch." Kyoko grit her teeth on seeing the gun, aware of how serious this had become all of a sudden. A gunshot wound wasn't something she enjoyed considering. A few quick steps forward and she struck when he had his head turned. Her spear flew through the air, segments separating by chains to quickly whip across the gap. The side of the head of the spear slammed into the gun wielding hand with solid force, very effective in what she aimed to do.

"Ow, damn it," the leader cried as the gun flew out of his injured hand, it clattering to the ground. "You're gonna regret this," he snarled, before taking off with his followers.

"Yeah yeah sure," Kyoko said to herself as she watched them go. "Geez, waste of my time." Turning about once more, she dismissed her spear and resumed walking towards the arcade, already forgetting the encounter. It wasn't exactly an unusual event for her, and she didn't let herself worry too much about it.

Other than that encounter the trip to the arcade was quiet and uneventful, giving her time to relax and snack on Pocky, even if she found herself missing her friends, like Mami, or Homura, or others. But hey, not much she could do about that, since she wasn't about to go back to school like Mami wanted her to. She didn't need that education stuff anyway.

At last she arrived at the arcade, stepping through the glass doors into the colder, darker, environment, illuminated dimly and filled with people and pop music in the background. It had a good selection of games and prizes, and she had built up a solid bank of points since she had come back to join Mami in Mitakihara.

Inside, she got her tokens from the guy working the booth, the coins jangling around in her pocket as she walked amongst the banks of glowing machines, full of sounds and lights. It was pretty empty at the moment due to school still going on, but that suited her just the same. Arriving at the DDR machine, she fed it coins, selected a song, and got in the middle of the arrow pads.

The song began and she launched into it, going along to the beat as she danced between the pads and gave it her full effort. Sure, it was easier for her since her abilities gave her speed and reflexes past that of the average chump who'd be playing this game, but it still wasn't easy by any stretch of the term.

And that was good, since it gave her something to dwell on rather than tonight. It was Halloween, with all that that meant for a girl like her. The Wraith would be thick, with all the promise of Grief Cubes that that meant. But it also meant increased danger, since they would be stronger too.

Normally that wouldn't have bothered her. She wasn't afraid to bite the bullet when the time came, and the danger was half the fun of it. Nothing got her blood pumping like the risk of death. But ever since that day when Sayaka died, it all had become more real, that risk that she had been able to so casually dismiss before.

"Tch, idiot, had to go and get yourself killed over some boy," she grumbled in rapid motion. It was all her fault really. If it weren't for Sayaka, she'd be able to dismiss this twisting in her gut, to still believe that the power she had made her invincible, untouchable, an illusion the blunette had destroyed in a blast of magical energy.

She finished the song with a slight flourish, coming to a rest before moving into the next song, trying to dance her worries away. It'd probably be fine, to be honest. They were a pretty good trio, and as long as Homura actually showed up they wouldn't have anything to worry about. They protected this town for a reason after all, and they'd done a pretty good job of it together.

"Great, now I'm in denial," she grumbled once more, pocky stick bouncing along to the music as she did. It made her miss the good old days, when she was in Kazamino and only had to worry about herself. Okay, well, the good old days weren't actually that good. But she was hardly unbiased in that regard.

She went on a for a few more songs before going on to some other games, mostly fighting games which she went at with hammered buttons and spinning joysticks, growling and glaring at the screen as she kicked butt. Coins clattered from the machine as she racked up victory after victory on that and other games.

A few hours passed between fighting, racing, chance, and sports games, and at last she decided to call it in, taking all her coins to the prize booth to exchange them for tickets, which she planned to stash away with her collection. She was saving up for some big prizes, and she wasn't quite there yet.

After leaving the arcade, she swung by a convenience store and grabbed some plastic bags to use for candy storage before she hit the streets with the sun sinking in the sky, to stock up on her other collection of food.

This was one of her favorite holidays for that reason. It was a holiday completely focused around scaring people (which she could do) and giving out candy for free. It was like heaven for someone like herself, who lacked a sustainable income. So she planned to take advantage of it as best she could.

She had two standard approaches then, based on whether someone were home or not. If they weren't, she'd look for a bowl of candy near the front door and liberate part of it, adding it to her plastic bags. If they were home, she'd walk up the steps, rap on the door, and wait there with a cocky grin and a slight slouch. "Trick or treat," she said with an imitation of a tone that a teenage girl might put on, overly enthusiastic perhaps.

She wove a zig zag path form house to house, joined over time as more costumed figures took to the streets in their own searches. One bag filled and she moved on to the next, eventually breaking out her spear in order to ease carrying by propping it on her shoulder, bags swinging from the shaft under the pointed metal head.

Finishing one last house, she stopped in her pursuit and glanced over to the nearby digital clock provided courtesy of the bank that sat on the street corner nearby. She gave a forlorn sigh and cut her expedition short to make her way towards Mami's apartment so they could go on patrol together, though she wasn't above hitting the houses she hadn't previously gotten along the way.

Arriving at the base of the building, she trudged up familiar concrete steps to the floor that Mami's apartment was on, and then walked past numbered doors until she stood in front of her partners front door.

Stopped for the moment, she glanced down to see a stereotypical pumpkin bucket full of candy on a small stool near the base of the doorframe. She contemplated what she was about to do, but then she did it anyway, bending over to scoop off a layer of candy into one of her bags, guilt free in the process. Hey, it was for anyone to take after all. She then straightened up, shifted a few steps, and gave the door a few sharp raps, jarring and certain to gain the attention of the apartment's occupant.

A few moments passed until the door opened to reveal Mami standing there with a smile on her face, dressed up in her own Halloween costume.

"Yo, smells good in here," Kyoko commented as she moved past Mami into the apartment, looking around in the process.

And that it did. Mami was inevitably in the spirit of the season and the inside of her lodging showed it. It smelled of pumpkin and cinnamon, a bowl of candy corn on the counter, with pinups on the window and cut out streamers adding to that. Slightly tacky, truth be told, but Kyoko didn't judge. Too much. Honest.

"Thank you," Mami replied, closing the door behind her at the same time.

Kyoko moved further in and to the couch, kicking her feet up as she stretched out on the piece of furniture, bags of candy in easy reach, her spear dismissed in the process. Looking out the window at the orange painted sky and sinking sun, she began to rummage through her recently collected stash for something to eat.

Cracking open a small handful of Rolo's, she was blissfully unaware of the blond wreathed in a malevolent aura creeping up on her. She was provided some early warning of her advance as the hair rose on the back of her neck and she turned to respond, but it was too late as the palm of Mami's hand impacted with the back of her head. At the same time one of her bags was swept away as Kyoko lurched from surprise, to try and grab it back.

Conceding this round to her drill haired superior, Kyoko sat up and rubbed the back of her recently hit head. "Oww, what was that for," she protested, as Mami moved away with some of her gathered treats.

Kyoko watched her go with a hurt gaze as Mami replied cheerfully over her shoulder. "Now Kyoko, you know that candy was for trick-or-treaters. Not magical girls with inexhaustible appetites."

True that might be, but Kyoko wasn't about to cede what she had without some sort of protest. She had needs too after all. She was certain Mami just enjoyed messing with her. "Hey, I'm a trick-or-treater too," she called in indignation.

Hurt ruby eyes followed Mami as she returned with an empty plastic bag and moved to the kitchen, watching as she poured two cups of tea. "Yes, but that is no excuse for you to take candy from me, especially when I provide you with so much food already."

That, that was true, she admitted with a sigh. "Yeah yeah, whatever," Kyoko replied as Mami walked over and handed her a china cup with warm tea inside, then sat down across from her.

As she drank the tea she had been given, Kyoko's thoughts naturally turned to the upcoming hunt and the currently missing member of their trio. "So, we expecting Tall, Dark, and Grumpy to show up tonight," she asked nonchalantly.

"Homura believes it is wiser that we split up to cover more ground, so she will be patrolling on her own as usual," Mami replied. It wasn't exactly a surprise, given how their reclusive companion practically needed to be dragged into doing stuff with them most of the time. And thinking that this would be an exception was probably asking for much.

Placing her cup down on the small glass table, Kyoko leaned back, head supported by interlocked hands as she sighed. "Man, she's stubborn, ain't she? It's almost like she doesn't like us." Eyes drifted shut lazily as she shrugged. "Oh well, more Grief Cubes for me."

As opposed to her blond companion, she wasn't overly concerned about how Homura would fare tonight. Partially that was just because she was less worrisome in general than Mami was, and partially because she knew Homura could handle herself. They'd been in enough fights together for Kyoko to recognize that the stoic girl had a wealth of experience that belied her short tenure as a magical girl. She could handle herself, of that Kyoko was sure.

"I am a bit worried," Mami commented, to a complete lack of surprise on Kyoko's part. "This is her first time experiencing Halloween, so I'm not sure if she's prepared for how strong the Wraith will be compared to normal."

Leaning forward, Kyoko picked up her china cup and finished her tea as she shrugged at the same time. "I'm sure she'll be fine. She has freaking wings and all," she replied, somewhat jealous of that particular ability. It was pretty cool after all. Tea done, she sat back again and pulled out a Mini Twix bar, quickly removing the wrapper to chomp down on it.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," Mami ceded as she finished her own cup of tea. Both then looked out the nearby windows to where purple crept into the fringes of the sky, the only sounds being that of their breathing, crinkling wrappers and plastic, and biting teeth.

The time passed unbidden, but Kyoko wasn't in any hurry. Sure, fighting Wraith was fun, but one had to appreciate the good moments while they were there, because they'd be gone too soon. It was a sentiment she had learned a long time ago. So she ate, and basked in the company of her senior.

But eventually it had to end as Mami spoke once more. "Well then, shall we be going?" It was definitely to a point where they could start their patrol with some confidence of finding something.

"Sure," Kyoko replied as she shot to her feet with smooth motions, stretching a little in preparation before placing her bags of candy on the counter next to that glass bowl of candy corn. That done, she walked over to the window, looking back at Mami, who had yet to shift to magical girl form while Kyoko was already prepared.

"Better hurry up then, or I'll be all done by the time you show up," she half taunted with a smirk before she opened the window and jumped out without hesitation, landing easily on the rooftop below. She gave a last glance to Mami's apartment above before heading off, unconcerned at the moment.

Mami quickly rejoined her and they began their patrol together, leaping from building to building like world class acrobats as they scanned the streets below that filled with fog only they could see, a procedure they had performed multiple times in the past. The presence of all those people down there certainly made it harder for the two of them, in terms of locating and fighting Wraith, but it wasn't like they had a choice. And Kyoko always enjoyed a challenge.

She was relaxed, confident, her worries taken away by actually doing something rather than just dwelling on it. The miasma might be thicker and the baddies stronger, but she was ready for whatever they could throw at her. Protecting civilians would be a bonus, but for the moment she was primarily focused on finding Wraith so she could eliminate them.

_Do you see any_, Mami asked telepathically, attentively watching the ground as they moved together.

_Nah, not yet,_ Kyoko replied with a shake of her head. She gave the area another scan, which only added to her mounting frustration. Seriously, where were those things hiding? _Maybe we should split up after all,_ she suggested at last. _Just so we can find them faster. _

_Alright,_ Mami agreed after a few moments. _But stay in telepathic range. And be careful._

_Please, 'careful's my middle name_, Kyoko said with a fanged smirk, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at her friends worry. _I'll let you know if I find any good packs._

With their brief telepathic exchange concluded the two of them separated, Kyoko sprinting away as she struck out on her own while Mami continued on their usual route. Kyoko still wasn't looking for a fight persay, but she did make a point of heading directly for spots in Mitakihara that always seemed to have Wraith, places that she had somehow conveniently forgotten to mention to Mami over the years.

Had she been asked, she would have been indifferent in her response. It was her emergency reserve, as she liked to call it. One never knew when they would need a few extra Grief Cubes, and it never hurt to be prepared either. So she'd swing by in her free time, kill any Wraith there, and add the Grief Cubes to her stockpile.

As for the places themselves, they were somewhat different from each other. But all were places where despair and negative emotions festered, abandoned buildings, underneath bridges, that sort of thing. And Kyoko knew that some of those spots were places that Mami probably wouldn't look if she could help it.

And it seemed she had the right idea as a pulse of magical energy illuminated her soul gem when she neared the first of these spots, conveniently underneath a bridge that made up part of the highway.

From the buildings she leapt down to the street, amidst the roiling mist with her spear drawn in the process. And made her way onwards and downwards. A predatory grin formed on her face as she spotted a cloaked figure lurking the miasma and shadows in the exact spot where they always appeared.

"Just one? Easy pickings," she commented to herself, a bit disappointed that there was only one, but she could accept that for the moment. There would certainly be more fights tonight.

A few rapid paces, and she sprang ahead with a leap, spear whipping forward as segments separated, crossing the gap to slam into the side of the Wraith and tossing it into one of the concrete support pillars. This gave her the opportunity to get in close as it recovered, an opportunity she took advantage of.

She wasn't about to give it the chance to run or fight back, so she kept up the attack, spear whipping and twisting in the air, hitting the Wraith from one angle, then another, sending it reeling from the barrage of strikes as Kyoko wielded her spear with a competent hand.

A slash, then a strike, and another, until with a flourish Kyoko finished the Wraith off with an overhead strike from her chain spear. Her weapon snapped back together easily as she came to a rest, while the Wraith vanished in a blast of magical energy.

"See? No problem," she commented to herself again. "If it's all like this then it'll be easy." She walked over and scooped up the Grief Cubes, quickly cleaning her soul gem of accumulated darkness before depositing the leftovers and full Cubes in her pocket to hold on to or give to Kyubey when he showed up.

She then looked around, to find to her disappointment that there were no other Wraith around. "Well, on to the next spot." She sent her spear away before moving on, returning to the rooftops and the skies as she moved on to the next spot on her list.

That was a process that would repeat itself the next few times, her arriving at a location to see only a few Wraith present that she was able to easily dispatch, and then move on. It wasn't exactly a state of affairs that made her comfortable to be honest. While she was glad for some easy fights, they shouldn't have been this easy. It was Halloween, they should have been kicking her butt. So where were all the Wraith?

A sigh and a shrug as powered leaps took her through the sky. Knowing her luck, they were probably all getting murdered by Homura or something, and she was just getting the stragglers. She was aware that she had exited telepathic range, in contradiction of what Mami had instructed her, but neither of them seemed to be having any issues as it was, so she wasn't worried that the drill haired blond would run into trouble, much less herself.

She neared the last spot in this part of the city, a run down neighborhood baseball field that had fallen into disrepair over the years. The chain link fence enclosing it was rusty and had large holes in it, trash littered the field, and the grass grew wild as white miasma covered the verdant, sickly green like a comforting blanket.

She slipped through the fence and made her way to the pitchers mound, tracking the magical signature that touched her soul gem, and she quickly found it as a cloaked, masked figure rose in the outfield.

Searching eyes showed there was only one Wraith present, and Kyoko drifted into a fighting stance as she sighed. "Just you? Come on, give me a challenge for once."

Her request went unanswered, like all attempts to communicate with the Wraith, but she left behind such wishful thinking as she moved in to attack, taking a few preparatory steps to build up speed before launching herself forward, spear thrust forward in a devastating blow.

But it seemed that there was still time left today for surprises after all. As the spear cut through the air, the Wraith dodged the attack, shifting to the side to let magical metal gouge at the outfield dirt. Landing, Kyoko dodged a counterattack as she broke into a somewhat satisfied grin. "Alright then, it's about time," she said in glad anticipation.

A few moments of silent buildup, and then they went at it again, spear stabbing and slashing together as a whole or in separated chain form, as the Wraith dodged and moved back, launching its own attacks when it could. But it was obvious that Kyoko had control of the momentum of this fight. It was just a matter of landing a solid hit as they left the outfield and moved into the nearby neighborhood.

"C'mon, stand still and let me hit you" Kyoko growled as she summoned a wall of red, magical diamond chains to block the Wraith's escape, only to watch it shatter as miasma seeped through the cracks and the Wraith slammed itself bodily against the barrier.

Now she was getting angry, as evidenced by determination swelling all the more as she leaned forward in her combat stance, attacks all the more fast and furious. But as she sped up, the Wraith did as well, and while she scored a few hits, none of them were critical, and she took a few light hits of her own in the process.

They danced about, the Wraith falling back and Kyoko advancing, red beams of light crossing with the silver of metal, when a wall of red chains didn't arise from nothing. They moved to fortunately empty streets, and she found to her surprise that she had to put in that much more effort as the miasma clung to her, slowing her down with wispy tendrils. But she wasn't about to let something like that stop her, and soldiered on in spite of her disadvantages.

Finally getting a break, the Wraith dropped down from a rooftop into a large open courtyard and Kyoko did the same. She then struck hard and quick, spear whipping through the air, wrapping securely around the Wraith so she could toss it about at will like a pinball. It slammed into a brick wall, then the hard ground as it struggled to free itself, before she finished it off with a swift jab to the chest.

The Wraith dispelled and the Grief Cubes it held clattered to the ground as Kyoko watched in confident satisfaction. "See, told yah. No sweat," she announced as she went over to retrieve her prize, glad that this was over at last.

A flash of motion, her danger sense kicked in just in time, and she rolled out of the way as multiple beams of magical energy hit where she had just been. Coming out of her evasive actions, she looked up to see five Wraith on the rooftops above her, arranged to hit her from all directions. Her tactical mind immediately told her it was not a good situation to be in.

Still, Kyoko was herself, and she going to back down when confronted. She thrived on challenge, and she was too stubborn to admit that she might be in over her head. She'd just have to show these Wraith the error of messing with her.

"Okay then, bring it," she challenged as she spun her spear about, settling into a defensive stance. "I'll take you all on."

For once, her challenge was answered without words as the Wraith moved in, some on top providing suppressive fire while a few shifted below to advance on her position, and she charged to meet them. She figured getting in close would probably help her, since it meant less of those Wraith above her could shoot her without hitting their own brethren. And her spear did give her something of an advantage.

Red beams cut through the fog, a light show as Kyoko dodged and weaved, jabbing and slashing, chain whipping about like a dervish. It was a tactic that worked pretty well until the Wraith got physical in turn, shadowy black claws blocking her weapon in mid strike as they fight,.

Sparks flew as metal met ethereal magic, a chaotic melee between Kyoko and her opponents as she spun and dodged across the courtyard, a pulsing rhythm of beaming lights and shadowy strikes to accompany it. One Wraith after another was dispatched at her hand, but their numbers didn't seem to decrease. But still she fought on, resisting the sapping influence of the miasma and the accumulation of smaller wounds across her body. Burns from near misses, scratches from light debris, light wounds from attacks she hadn't quite dodged in time. It was all adding up.

Despite the seriousness of her situation though, Kyoko was having the time of her life. A tough fight like this got her adrenaline flowing, and made her feel alive while she was so close to the edge of death. These Wraith would not get the better of her, and she could barely feel the wounds she had as it was, even without dulling her senses.

Yet just as sure was the fact that they were wearing her down. She slowed, even imperceptibly, reaction times a fraction slower, and the Wraith took advantage of her weakening, pressing their own attack as she fought back. And in spite of the increasingly desperate situation, Kyoko didn't even think of contacting Mami, though she wasn't in range to hear eve if she had tried. She didn't need help, and she didn't need to drag Mami into her problems. She could handle it herself.

Soon she was surrounded by Wraith, blocking her avenues of escape and retreat, but that suited her just fine. She wasn't going to run anyway. But her luck ran out as a Wraith surged forward and attacked, and though she saw it coming her reaction was a bit slow, and a trio of phantom claws scored deep gashes across her side, shredding part of her red dress in the process.

Pain flared like searing agony at rent flesh and severed muscles, though she immediately worked to dull that, and providing a significant distraction as blood welled and began to flow from the wounds. Gritting her teeth in determination and ignoring the way her muscles screamed at her for relief, Koko struck back with a vengeance, killed the attacker before spinning on her heels, forcing the Wraith behind her back with her whipping chain spear.

"What, that all you got? I'm just getting started," she taunted, though her physical condition didn't exactly help the image she was putting out.

The fight raged on once more, but it increasingly slanted against Kyoko, her left arm, her leg, an increasing battering as she was tossed about by blow after landed blow, responded to by weakening counterattacks as she fought on against her unyielding foes, just as determined to be victorious. Somehow.

Kyoko grunted as she was thrown into a wall, bricks breaking beneath the impact with her inhuman body as she collapsed to the ground. On shaky, bloodstained legs she rose, brandishing her spear as she wiped away the trail of blood that dripped from the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand. "Lucky shot," she said with a growl, yet pain beginning to present itself in her tone.

The response of the Wraiths was another attack, energy blasting out and throwing her to the side from the shockwave, catching her with the debris that shot out as a result, more lacerations and bruises added to her collection of wounds as she was thrown to the ground. Her spear clattered out of her reach, but she was more focused on breathing through the pain that could no longer be dulled away, and forcing herself to move in spite of that.

"Nnh, you think you're tough? I'll...I'm gonna kick your butt and make you regret attacking me," she growled defiantly, legs shaking still as she tried to rise, only to have those limbs give out in spite of her effort, scrabbling at the ground beneath them impotently_. Oh come on, get up_, she chastised herself. _It's just a little pain, nothing serious. I'm not gonna end it like this, got it?_

Haltingly, she shifted, biting back curses as her body protested in response, the damage just that accumulated and widespread despite the magic she had access to. Then the Wraith launched another fusillade of blows and her eyes snapped open in a flash of adrenaline as her hand rose, a wall of chains appearing to intercept the beams in their path to her. It held for a few seconds, but then shuddered and shattered into a million fragments, beams punching through to strike her once more.

Blow after blow rained down as Kyoko was tossed about, ribs and bones cracking, twisted at weird angles as blood spilled forth, until she came to rest slumped in a corner, a wreck with her soul gem near empty of magic.

"Heh...sorry Mami," she said weakly past swollen, torn lips, her defiance drained even if she wasn't resigned to her fate. "Guess I got in a bit over my head this time," she admitted at last. She sighed and closed her eyes, waiting for the hammer blow to fall. "C'mon you bastards. Don't keep me waiting."

* * *

The Wraith clustered about, staring her down, and then struck with their full force. Kyoko threw out her last gasp of magic, but it didn't have even close to a chance of blocking the energy directed at her. Her vision filled with glaring red and pain shot through her in a crescendo, before it was abruptly interrupted by a flash of cerulean blue, and she was gone.

The church was old, run down, the atmosphere filled with the smell of rotting wood and dust, giving off the impression that no one had stepped foot in it for a long time. The appearance of the place backed that up, pews shattered, book pages floating on the breeze, candles scattered about. The only intact things were the raised stage above the rest of the empty congregation (and even that was becoming dangerously unstable), and the ornate stain glass windows behind the altar that colored whatever light shone through.

Kyoko stood at the bottom of the slumping stairs, looking up to the stain glass windows and the stories depicted there as her hands rested in her pockets. For once there was no food on her person, and she seemed unaffected by the massive desolation and degradation behind her. Her mind was in another realm, in the past, contemplative and regretful, as she only allowed herself to be when she was alone.

"What we need is a new religion, to bring peace to a new age," she said aloud with a sigh, quoting her father as she remembered him and his numerous sermons in this very church, before everything had burned. Before she'd ruined everything.

That train of thought came to a crashing halt as a realization made itself know. She wasn't alone. When she had spoken, someone else had said the exact same thing at the exact same moment. Alert and ready for a fight, she spun about to confront the intruder with extreme prejudice.

She pulled up sharply though as the interloper came into sight, struck still, ruby eyes widened as far as it seemed they could go, jaw resisting the urge to drop to the floor in shock, not at all prepared for what she was now seeing. It was a girl, younger than her, with red hair and twin ponytails, wearing a conservative dark pink dress. Her hands were clasped in front of her as she looked at Kyoko, reflecting a bit of nervousness in her gaze.

"Mo...mo," Kyoko asked hesitantly, her mind struggling to cope with the fact that her sister was here, looking at her, painfully familiar in her minds eye.

Then the shock broke as reality clicked into place, and Kyoko ran forward, crossing the distance as fast as she could to wrap Momo into a crushing embrace.. It was needy, emotional, the grasp of someone who was holding on for dear life and never wanted to let go for fear they would drown without it. Her head buried itself in the crook of her sisters neck as her eyes shut, fighting back tears of sadness and joy. A miracle, perhaps, but she was here now, and Kyoko held tight out of the fear that letting go would see her swept away on the wind and confirm that she was only a mirage, a delusion of a scarred mind. "Momo, I...I...You... It's really you...I can't...I missed you, I missed you so much," she stammered out, voice breaking and trembling.

Momo squeaked in surprise as she found herself in Kyoko's fierce embrace. "B-Big sister," she replied a tad nervously, unmoving even if she was able to move. "Momo can't breath."

That familiar voice brought her back to the here and now, ad Kyoko lessened her hold on her younger sister, shifting to look in her eyes as her hands rested on her shoulders. "You're here. You're real. I...I can't believe it. You're really here. I mean, I don't think I'm crazy anyway," Kyoko said with some relief, briefly wiping away gathered moisture in the corners of her eyes.

"Yep, Momo is here, and real. At least, Momo thinks she is," the girl confirmed.

Kyoko smiled in relief to hear that, then glanced around at the church they found themselves in. "So, if you're her, does that mean I'm..."

Momo shook her head emphatically. "Nope."

That earned a slight chuckle from the older redhead. "Well good. I'd hate to think that this dump was heaven." Then the follow up came naturally afterwards. "So, if this isn't heaven, then where are we?"

Momo frowned in thought for a few seconds first. "Momo thinks it's a place between planes. Like a train station. Big sister came from one side, Momo came from the other, and we met in the middle."

"Oh," Kyoko replied succinctly, confusion easing a tad thanks to the analogy involved before her gaze softened once more. "So what's it like? You know...death."

Momo seemed to match her sisters attitude as she gave her own response. "It's nice. Fun. Mama and Papa are there with Momo. But Momo misses her big sister."

Fists clenched almost reflexively, and if Kyoko wasn't reeling before she was now. "Mom and Dad are there?" To that Momo answered with a confirming nod, and Kyoko breathed a small sigh of...relief? Something like that. Much as she might despise her father for what he did, she didn't really want him to go to hell. He was her father after all, and there would always be a place for him in her heart, broken and bleeding though it might be.

"Well that's good. I guess God does forgive everything after all" Kyoko commented after a brief moment as she looked to the cross that hung above the altar. A rueful smile crossed her lips as her attention divided between the cross and Momo. "Don't worry though. Given how things were going before I showed up here, I'll be with you all pretty soon. I just hope that I'll be let in, given what I am."

Panic and concern tinted Momo's features as she shifted slightly forward, closer to her sister for a small embrace. "Of course big sister has a place for her with her family. Momo will make sure of it."

Blushing a bit, Kyoko slowly wrapped her arms around Momo in return, her heart thudding in her chest from the confusing mesh of emotions now swirling around her head. "Are you...are you sure? I mean, I' the reason why you're...you're" Her voice failed her as memories played before her once more, of bloodstained walls and bodies, her family dead while she lived on alone.

Momo looked up at Kyoko with confusion in her expression. "Of course Momo is sure. You're her big sister, and Momo loves you, even if big sister is silly sometimes. Why wouldn't she?"

Tears, anguish fought for control as Kyoko broke away, stalking to the first few creaking wooden steps and coming to a rest as she spit it out at last. "Because I'm the reason you're all dead! If it weren't for me and my stupid wish, you would all still be here with me, and alive. Why wouldn't you hate me for the fact that you died, I lived, and I'm the reason why? We may be sisters, but I killed you, even if I didn't do it personally. I won't hold it against you if you blame me for that."

There was complete, dead silence, not even a breeze the chirping of birds, or the sound of shifting wood for a time that seemed to stretch on to infinity as Kyoko shot a defiant, pain filled, self flagellating glare at her sister, who returned it with a pain filled, confused look of her own. Neither moved, Kyoko waiting for Momo to speak, while Momo struggled to come up with an answer.

At last the younger sister reacted, twin ponytails flapping about as she shook her head in rejection. "Momo could never hate her big sister," she proclaimed, stepping forward to cross the gap and take Kyoko's hands in hers. "It wasn't your fault. You were just doing what you thought was right to help us. You couldn't expect what happened." Her serious expression lit up into a smile, but still held that same iron certainty in it. "Besides, big sister is a super hero."

That last section caught Kyoko off guard, when she had been morose in her thoughts. "Huh?'

Momo's eyes practically sparkled now with awe and admiration as she looked up at Kyoko. "Yeah. Big sister has all these cool powers, and a costume, and get to fight the bad Wraith and save people. It's so awesome!"

Kyoko chuckled at the display, unused to actually getting attention for her occupation. "Yeah, they're pretty cool," she admitted with a fanged grin. "You saw all that?"

"Of course Momo did," Momo replied with a pout, accusing Kyoko of doubting her. "You're Momo's big sister, and Momo will never ignore you." The smile faded a bit as she looked towards the ground then. "Momo would prefer to be alive, but but if big sister hadn't made that wish then she wouldn't have been able to save all those people. If big sister hadn't made that wish then Momo's family would all be poor and living on the streets, or worse."

"I'd rather be homeless and starving than be alone," Kyoko said quickly and bitterly. But deep down she wasn't sure if that was true, and she hated herself for thinking it, for placing her own welfare above that of her entire family.

"But big sister isn't alone," Momo pointed out. "Big sister has that Mami, with all the guns and stuff. And Homura, but she's scary."

That earned a light chuckle from Kyoko. "Well, can't argue with that. But it's not the same. They can't replace you, Mom, and Dad."

"Momo doesn't expect them to. But they're there. And Momo forgives you. Big sister doesn't need to blame herself when she was only doing what she thought would help all of us. And as long as big sister fights to protect people, then Momo will always be cheering her on. And Momo knows mama and papa feel the same."

Mood swings seemed to be the order of the day as sadness swelled up again inside Kyoko, her eyes once more glittering with moisture. "Momo knows that no one person was responsible for what happened. Big sister thought magic could help her family. Papa was too overreacting and faithful. And magic is only a tool that people use. Big sister decides whether to use it for good or bad."

It was strange to hear her talking like this, the stint in the afterlife having apparently made her wise beyond her years. Or perhaps she had always been like this, and Kyoko had merely had her memories warped by the passage of time. In the end it didn't matter that much how it had happened, and she found herself struggling with the conviction of her beliefs, the memories she had relived a hundred times, her father's harsh words as he harangued her for her sins, and eventually killed himself and his family as penance for the lives that were stolen. "Momo," she muttered weakly.

Momo, on the other hand, continued unabated. "Kyoko is Momo's big sister, and Momo knows that her big sister didn't intend for anything bad to happen to her family. Big sister wanted to help her family, help everyone, because she thought people just needed to listen. Maybe magic wasn't the way to do that, but it was the one way big sister could act."

"But I was wrong. I brainwashed people, forced them to listen to Dad. And he was right. That wasn't the way to get people to change," Kyoko replied bitterly.

For some reason, Momo wasn't accepting that logic. "Yeah, big sister is right. Bit it wasn't right for Papa to do what he did either. He made that choice, not big sister. Sure, she may be stubborn, thick headed, and rash, but deep down she is a good person, and that she should stop blaming herself. Momo won't let her."

It had to be in her head. This was some delusion, it had to be. Of course Momo would talk like this, Kyoko told herself. Bit still, it was Momo, her sister, telling her that she didn't hold it against her, that she forgave her, and she shouldn't place all the blame on herself, her wish, for what happened. Bullheaded as she might be, she couldn't help but be swayed by what Momo said.

"Alright," Kyoko conceded with a sigh. "I guess you've got a point. And I'd hate to see what you plan to do to otherwise convince me."

Momo beamed a heartwarming smile at her success. "Good."

Kyoko pulled away then, looking once more around the unchanging church now that this part of the conversation was over. "So what do we do now? I'm guessing I can't stay here forever, can I?"

The reminder of the transient nature of their meeting brought Momo back down to earth, and she nodded in affirmation of Kyoko's question. "Big sister gets to choose now, if she wants to come with Momo, or if she wants to go back to life on Earth." She gestured to the entrance of the church, with it's plan, hanging wooden doors, and to the altar, behind which similar wooden doors, these outlined in bright, white light.

Somewhat nervously, unusual for her, Kyoko looked between the two options, keeping herself from pacing as she considered what to do. She could go, be with Momo, and her family, leave the Wraith fighting to Mami and Homura, and not have to worry about that stuff again. Or she could go back ,keep living, keep fighting.

Well, she was never one to run from a fight, and much as Kyoko would like to be with her family, she had the feeling that Momo would want her to keep fighting too. And she couldn't just abandon her friends like that. She wasn't that self serving, deep down.

She moved then for the entrance to the church, Momo joining her as she walked up to the front door. "Well Momo, I gotta be going. Monsters to fight, people to save. Don't go anywhere, alright?"

Admiration met a confident smirk as Momo looked up at her sister. "Don't worry big sister, Momo will always be rooting for her."

"Good to hear it." There was a pause before Kyoko spun about and hugged Momo once more, draining all the warmth and comfort she could get from it. "I'm gonna miss you sis. Still."

This time, Momo hugged her back, giving and taking in tandem. "Momo will always be with her big sister, even if big sister can't see her."

Reluctantly, the two broke apart at last and Kyoko moved to the double doors, throwing them open and stepping through. "Go get them big sister," Momo called, fervently waving goodbye.

Kyoko stopped in mid motion, looking back over her shoulder and giving Momo a fanged smirk and a thumbs up. "You got it," she replied confidently, before vanishing from this space.

* * *

Alone, Momo was silent as the doors swung shut, and looked up to the ceiling. "Thank you Ms. Madoka," she said with a wave to an unseen figure, as the church vanished in turn.

Ruby eyes flittered open to see a wall of chains, acting like a protective cocoon that served as a shield against successive Wraith blasts. But she could already feel there was a different. For one, her wounds were all healed like nothing was wrong. For another, her shield was holding up remarkably well. And a quick glance showed her that her soul gem was a brilliant red, cleaner than it had been in a while, probably similar to a level when she had just become a magical girl.

Though her view was blocked by chains, Kyoko looked up to the unseen heavens beyond "Thank you Momo," she said aloud, just imagining her sister watching and cheering her on. And Sayaka too, if the blunette could be bothered to take some time from watching that violinist of hers.

She rose then, readying her spear for combat and lashed out, the shell of chains practically exploding outwards, taking the Wraith by surprise as the restored redhead emerged, twirling her weapon before resting it on her shoulder. "Alright boys, you've had your fun. Too bad for you though, I just got my second wind."

Her spear swept to a ready position as she focused her magic, driving it into patterns that she hadn't used since before she was alone in the world. Momo's words rang in her head, how this wasn't her fault, how her magic was a tool, and that wasn't to be blamed in turn. Gathered, she let it flow, air flickering around her as multiple Kyoko's emerged into existence with a shouted "ROSSO FANTASMA!" These clones formed, they charged into battle with the Wraith still present.

In the melee, it quickly became useless to try and guess which Kyoko was the real one, since the clones were solid and took hits just as well as the original, and fought just as well in turn. They coordinated well, a spear decking one before another stabbed it in the back, slashing and stabbing, restraining a Wraith while the other punched through it's chest. Grief Cubes clattered to the ground as one Wraith after another was dispatched. It had become almost effortless to her, that was how strong she was with her replenished magic at the moment.

A storm of striking steel, a spear slammed into a Wraith repeatedly before the cloaked, masked figure was slapped aside. There was only one Wraith left now that Kyoko turned to fight, dismissing her clones in the process to conserve magic. About to attack, she didn't expect it as the lone Wraith was caught in a flurry of gunfire, perforated and then dispatched by magical bullets as Kyoko turned to look at the new arrival.

"Hey Mami, watcha doing here," she asked as she nonchalantly walked over and picked up the recently fallen Grief Cubes, like she hadn't almost died.

Mami walked up to her, face displaying a mixture of anger and relief. "It looks like you were busy Kyoko," she replied, visibly trying to restrain herself, though Kyoko was otherwise focused.

"Yep," Kyoko confirmed as she went about collecting her prizes. "Wasn't having any luck, so I went to one of my usual hunting spots." She stopped then in mid motion as a thought presented itself, glancing over to the blond. "How'd you find this place anyway?"

"Kyubey showed me," Mami replied simply, the mentioned individual stepping from the shadows and leaping up to Mami's shoulder and nodding at the busy redhead.

_I heard you were in trouble, and went to the nearest magical girl I could find for assistance_, Kyubey explained, earning a glare from Kyoko, though she was internally kinda glad he did.

"Tch," she muttered as she resumed, collecting the last of the Cubes laying on the ground. "I had it under control." It was false bravado, but her usual acting, though she wasn't sure if Mami believed her.

Mami clasped her hands in front of her as Kyoko rose, stretching her back as a warm down. "Kyoko, dear, you went out of telepathic range. And when Kyubey arrived, I was worried for you. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you. And what if I had needed your help? We have to work together, especially tonight."

"Fine, fine, I'm sorry," Kyoko replied with a slight huff, realizing her error because of her conversation with Momo, and the value she placed on her friend. She wasn't about to let any of her friends get hurt if she could help it, not now, not after seeing Momo again.

_Not to interrupt, but I do believe Homura Akemi still needs assistance_, Kyubey pointed out from his mobile perch on Mami's shoulder.

"Ah, yes," Mami replied with a start, realizing her lapse in memory. "I came for you because you were closer, and if Homura is in trouble then she will probably need both our help."

Well now, that was interesting and enticing. "So she needs our help after all? I suppose I'm up to bailing out Homura for a change," Kyoko commented, already thinking of ways she could torment Homura later on.

Mami nodded, and together the two cleaned their soul gems, what was needed, and they moved off at a run, guided by Kyubey across the city to the location of their friend in need. If Homura needed their help ,they would be damned if they let her down.


	3. Homura

**A/N: So, happy Samhain guys. And happy All Hallow's Eve. I totally did this on purpose, honest. It's been interesting writing this, and I hope you enjoyed it too. I mean, I might write an epilogue chapter, but only if I get some amazing feedback. Otherwise, this is done, and you can look forward to whatever story I work on next. **

* * *

_Tick-tock. Tick-tock._

A sigh filled the sparsely decorated room as violet eyes stared up at the black cast ceiling. Another long night of little to no sleep.

But Homura Akemi was used to it by now. And indeed she had no issue with it. Better to lie awake in bed than to be subsumed in the dreams of a nine year hell. The only sound was her breathing and the ticking of the nearby clock.

Glancing over, she read the time to be 5:30 AM, which was something of a redundant gesture since his internal clock ran to the exact second. At least that had been maintained. The other timer she kept track of had ran out months ago, expired with that other world. The old world.

Another sigh spilled forth, and she gave up the struggle, rising from the bed to turn on the lamp on her desk, blurry vision resolving into focus. With tired motions she moved out of the room to the bathroom, aware that a cold, bracing shower was all she needed to get going with the day.

The feel of cool droplets hitting her skin shocked her mind back to full awakefulness as she stood amidst the falling water. She was still tired, but forcibly submerged that as a weakness. It was a feeling that was to be expected, given that she'd only gotten about three or so hours of sleep, which happened to be something of a standard for most nights. But she was used to these long nights, and she preferred it to the alternatives.

She finished the shower quickly, another habit of hers as she was averse to wasted time. She dressed in one of the several similar school uniforms she had,and came to a rest in front of the mirror. First was a check of her Soul Gem, the purple jewel relatively unsullied, light reflected back in the mirror. Her lifestyle certainly didn't help there. She applied a few Grief Cubes to eliminate the lingering blackness, before returning it to ring form on her finger.

She brushed her hair swiftly before gently, even reverently, picking up the red ribbons sitting on the countertop, the ones that meant so much to her. She stood there quietly, staring down at the only other remnants of her past, gently rubbing the accessories with her thumbs, a comforting gesture. Her heart panged in her chest, an unyielding longing there that could never be satisfied.

"Mado...ka," Homura muttered, a shiver of familiarity running down her spine. She could swear that at that moment she felt warmth on her neck, the flash of a figure behind her in the mirror, a whisper in her ear that was barely audible, yet comforting words nonetheless.

She glanced away from the mirror, hand rising to rest on her shoulder as she imagined Madoka standing by her. They were fleeting sensations that she'd had for months, going on since the creation of this world. But every time these moments happened, they filled her with hope, and then in the end left her with sadness when they ended.

Ribbon tied in place in her hair, she departed the bathroom and made her way to the kitchen to prepare some breakfast. It wasn't much, nor fancy, just a bagel with cream cheese that was enough to satisfy her hunger. Not the most appealing meal, but she'd stopped spending the time on such a concern as taste a long time ago.

Sitting at the small table she had, Homura glanced around the slightly used kitchen while eating, planning out her day. There was school, Wraith hunting, studying, and pretty much only that, if she was to be honest. One would consider the lack of alternate activities sad, but it didn't bother her. It wasn't like she had the time for them anyway.

That, that was her life now. Wraith hunting, school, the occasional meeting with Mami and Kyoko. It was what she knew, and she didn't see much purpose in doing it another way when it worked. She was a magical girl after all. Even if Madoka had torn down the old order, despair hadn't vanished, and she had to fight to protect Madoka's sacrifice.

Bagel finished, she rose from the table to prepare, placing all her needed supplies into her bag with silent efficiency. School was harder now since she'd stopped knowing all the answers a while back, requiring her to actually study. But she managed that as she did her other affairs, and had no issues thus far.

Packed up, she out of her apartment to go for a walk, a short patrol that would tide her over until school began and allow her to buildup her stockpile of Grief Cubes at the same time. After all, it never hurt to be prepared, in case the worst were to occur.

Reflexively, she pulled out her Soul Gem as she began walking. Where once it had been to locate Witch's Barriers, it was now to locate Wraith. Still effective though. The streets were empty, the city still stirring into motion, with only the occasional car driving past as she headed through alleys and along sidewalks.

All around her were decorations for Halloween, orange and browns, pumpkins, skeletons, and the like. But she ignored them as she went along. To her, it was just another day to be lived through, nothing special. She put no effort into dressing up since it was a waste of time and effort, and she went on as normal in spite of it.

She supposed it would have been more efficient to fly, but she chose to walk instead. After all, she was in no hurry to go anywhere, and most of the Wraith packs would have been destroyed by this hour. It was too early to go to school, and the people closest to being friends were probably sleeping at this hour, like a reasonable person would.

She had no destination in mind, but found herself subconsciously wandering to old haunts. Warehouses, back alleys, Yakuza hangouts, areas of high Witch concentrations. Her past was the one thing she couldn't escape, as she found herself distracted by memories.

Eventually she wound up at a park, a flower covered hilltop overlooking the city. Amidst the petal she stood, gaze cast to the sky above and the barely visible stars. Her hand drifted up to brush the ribbon she wore in her hair, stoic expression dropping for a sad look to the heavens.

_Madoka, I hope you're happy up there with Sayaka_, Homura thought to herself, as well as the Goddess she hoped was listening. _I don't know how much longer I can go on._

It wore on her, living day after day, everywhere faced with reminders of Madoka, and the pain of knowing she was the only one who remembered her. Her laugh, her smile, how she never had a mean thing to say, and how she never hesitated to help someone in need, no matter the cost to herself.

But no, she was the only one who did. She'd told Kyubey, who certainly didn't contest the tale, but wouldn't accept it as fact without proof. And proof was impossible to get. She'd told kyoko, who scoffed her off, and Mami, who listened attentively to what she had to say. But as evidenced by the conversations she'd heard over the listening devices she'd planted in Mami's apartment, she knew the blond didn't truly believe her, merely thought it was a coping mechanism to deal with Sayaka's death.

She had to keep going though, as long as she could. She had to honor Madoka's sacrifice, her legacy, and make sure that the world she had created through it didn't fall. She might have failed in saving Madoka, but she would not allow the same fate to befall her creation.

It was an eternity, a moment, and then she had to go. Her soul gem returned to ring form, Homura moved along once taken paths towards Mitakihara Middle School. At the same time, she braced himself for the day ahead and the interactions involved. She could endure this. She had to.

* * *

School was a transient period, an oddity, a speed bump, after a fashion. Homura was focused, and yet at the same time not. One of the advantages of the new order was that she no longer had to slip out of class to go Witch hunting, giving her more time to focus on her studies. That time, in turn, was split between writing notes, answering questions, and looking out the corner of her eyes to where Madoka should have been sitting.

She'd been popular, once, and she imagined she was still in the school rumor mill somewhat. But her aloof demeanor and stoic, impersonal attitude had succeeded in stopping all attempts at friendship, and most of the confessions of love had stopped as well. If there was one fact that had been put across quickly, it was that any attempts to sway her heart were doomed to failure. Not that it stopped everyone from trying.

Regardless of her social status, she was otherwise an exemplary student. Good grade, outstanding in athletics, the only flaw seemed to be her teamwork skills or lack thereof, as well as occasionally being distracted for no apparent reason. Other than that though, she was hardly lacking in academics.

Lunch was taken on the roof, where she could be away from other people, and at the same time bring her closer to Madoka. There were years of memories built up on there, and being on the roof made her more easily imagine that Madoka was there with her.

Of course, it also made it that much easier to imagine the disapproval with which the pinkette would view her lunch. A simple sandwich, a few sides, easy to prepare, and meeting all minimal dietary requirements. It didn't exactly taste amazing, but that was expecting a bit much from convenience store meals and her basic skills. And besides, she didn't make it for the taste anyway. It'd sustained her through the loops, it would keep her going here.

"_Homura," Madoka said with a frown. "You shouldn't be eating this every day, it's not good for you. There's no variety!"_

"_But I like it," Homura protested weakly, resolve already faltering before the pinkette's disapproval._

_This was emphasized as Madoka shook her head fervently. "As Student Health Representative it's my job to make sure all classmates take care of themselves. This includes you." An idea occurred to her then, and she went to implement it, snatching Homura's lunch box away and placing it next to hers on her lap._

"_M-Madoka," Homura sputtered as Madoka split her lunch between the two of them._

"_Here. Papa always makes too much anyway," Madoka replied with a smile as she handed the lunch back across, so the two of them could dine together._

A light smile graced Homura's face as she stared down at her lap, remembering a hundred such encounters, and the two of them, with a variable cast of secondary characters surrounding, having fun and just enjoying each other's company. Events that could no longer happen, for her or anyone else.

Engrossed in the thoughts, the images, she missed it as someone else ascended the stairs, only catching her attention as her name was called. She looked over to see who it was, a surge of emotion on plain display as she noted who it was. Admittedly, it shouldn't have so much of a surprise, but there was Mami, wearing a costume that stirred yet more memories of a loop long past. And yet she wore it as well as she had before.

Ah, Mami. The name immediately brought forth several memories, most of them unpleasant. She'd tried to not blame the Mami of this world for what had happened before, had tried to work with her for their mutual benefit, and not make assumptions. But she couldn't and they'd drifted apart once more to their own isolation.

And who could blame her? For all her appearances, Homura knew what lurked beneath the surface, Mami's true self. She'd seen the depths to which the blond could descend, and anyone would find it hard to place trust in a person they had seen gun down their friends in the name of 'mercy'. Mami Tomoe was incredibly fragile, and Homura would not place her life in the hands of someone so easy to break.

So she clamped down, banished the emotions that held sway, and took on an indifferent expression as she usually did before she glanced back down to her lap. "Hello Mami Tomoe," she replied. "You look well."

"Thank you," Mami said back as she sat down near Homura, opening her lunchbox and beginning to eat. "How are your classes going?"

"Fine," Homura replied succinctly as she worked over her lunch with chopsticks. She saw no need to further pursue this conversation and made no effort to do as such. Hopefully that would get Mami to leave all the sooner.

Sadly, that didn't work, and now she found even Mami commenting on her eating habits. Wonderful. "You should eat more. You'll need the energy," she commented, heard by Homura yet also ignored.

Still, to placate her, Homura took a few bites of the food sitting on her lap. She kept her gaze away, not wanting to remember, and focusing on the important affairs at hand. "Kyubey did say that the miasma had been thickening the past week." She'd noticed it, and it certainly didn't bode well for the three of them.

Fortunately, Mami had an answer for that. "That's right, this is your first Halloween isn't it?"

Homura nodded her confirmation for the other girl. While she was certainly skilled, most of that experience had been gained over the span of a month. This would be the first time she'd experienced Halloween, or Samhain as the technical term was. And judging from it's position, it wouldn't be all that pleasant an event.

Mami launched into her explanation then, providing information that Homura listened to attentively, even if she didn't show it all that well. "Halloween is an old holiday, about holding back oncoming darkness, and at the same time it intersects with a period where magical abilities and influences are heightened. This results in a swelling of emotions and powers that mean a surge in Wraith manifestation as the embodiment of human despair, and makes them stronger than usual around this time."

So, the Wraith would be stronger and more numerous than normal? Well, she could handle that. Nothing could be as bad as Walpurgisnacht after all. She still couldn't miss the concern Mami voiced though as she went on. "I really think you should reconsider working alone as you usually do, at least for the next couple nights. There is safety in numbers after all, and we're better able to handle what threats may arise together."

True that that might be, Homua had no intention of accepting that offer. She worked best alone, and that would not change now. She was most confident in her abilities, and if she fell she would not drag them down with her. They had their own lives, so let them be lived as they could. And even if she fell, she would be with Madoka at last.

She knew Mami wouldn't accept that though, and came up with an alternate explanation as she shook her head. "If the Wraith are going to be more prevalent than usual, then it would be better for us to be separate, so we can cover more ground and ensure a maximum coverage of the city in a rapid fashion."

Whether Mami believed her excuse or not, she chose not to push on the matter, for which Homura was grateful. She wasn't in the mood for a drawn out argument. "If that is how you feel. Please be careful though. I don't want to lose you too."

Looking over, Homura could see her fallen gaze, and knew that Mami truly meant that, even if it was some attempt at guilt tripping that would fail. If there was one thing that defined Mami, it was her fear of losing anyone else.

"Rest assured Mami Tomoe, I have no intention of dying tonight," Homura declared confidently as she stood and departed, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she spun on her heels to depart the roof and head back into the school.

She meant it when she said it. She would not die, she couldn't die. To do so would be to fail Madoka, and that could not happen. Still, some part of her wondered if that wouldn't be so bad. She'd fought for years, didn't she deserve some rest at some point?

Shaking her head, she dismissed those thoughts from her mind to focus on the rest of the day ahead, and all the memories that that meant. With tonight to prepare for, it wouldn't be that difficult after all.

* * *

The end of school heralded Homura returning to her apartment, where she immediately began preparations for the night. Without long term threats to plan for, weapons to maintain, or extracurricular activities beyond this one occupation, it certainly opened up a lot of free time for her. Free time which she had to put to use somehow in the name of efficiency.

That was done with chores first. Vacuuming, laundry, washing dishes, menial tasks that allowed the time to pass by in dull monotony. That wasn't actually that much to do, given that she lived alone, but it provided order, a structure to adhere to, and she clung to that tighter than anything in this new world.

The last plate dried and returned to it's proper cupboard, she then turned to schoolwork. This meant assignments as well as studying, which she did in her living room, with the familiar figure of Walpurgisnacht looming overhead, images of the Witch and city replaced with friendlier photos of her and the others accumulated over a lifetime of repeats.

But she pointedly ignored those now, lest she lose track of time in memory. It was better that she did this work now rather than later, when she would be dead tired from a long night of fighting. It was just more efficient this way.

So she buried herself in numbers, formulas, impersonal logic that couldn't harm nor help her. It was the best way she knew to cope, to curb the emotions that threatened to run rampant and destroy her. She couldn't allow herself to fall victim to her own feelings.

Fortunately, or not, a visitor arrived to provide a distraction of sorts. _Hello Homura Akemi_, Kyubey said as it emerged from the shadows. _You seem unwell._

"Hello Incubator," she replied matter of factly. "I am as well as the day before, and the day before that."

Of everything that had surprised her in this world, Kyubey ranked well up there. Still emotionless, unable to understand the human condition, it had nonetheless changed. Without the existence of Witches, there was no need to manipulate girls into contracts. Or, less of a need anyway. That made it more tolerable to her overall.

As for the personal opinion it held of her, she was a constant, reliable source of large amounts of Grief Cubes, so it had some interest in being around her. And it was the only one to really take her stories of the old world seriously, even if it doubted their veracity without evidence. Ironically, it seemed she was closer to the alien now than she was to her fellow magical girls.

_If you say so_, Kyubey replied, moving to sit down nearby. Of course, she knew that its only concern was for the Grief Cubes, but she'd put up with it. _I see you won't be working with Mami Tomoe or Kyoko Sakura tonight, in spite of the potential danger. _

Homura nodded, not turning from her work. "They can take care of themselves. And it would be safer for them to not be around me tonight anyway."

Kyubey tilted it's head, ears flopping as it gave her a calculating look._ I see. Though I question the wisdom of that particular strategy at this time. You may end up with more Wraith than you can handle alone._

Presented with that observation, Homura seemed unfazed. "If that is how it ends, then that will be how it ends. I am done fighting fate."

As she was, Kyubey seemed unfazed too, the alien doing nothing to dissuade her from that fatalistic approach. It had learned rapidly that such attempts never succeeded, no matter the line of reasoning used. She gave it Grief Cubes, it listened without judgment, it was an arrangement both were fine with that didn't proceed past that point.

The time passed in silence, pendulum swinging overhead with one assignment after another finished in rapid succession while Kyubey rested nearby. She went through the work with as much skill as she could muster and soon finished, placing the papers off to the side. And just in time for her to depart, it seemed.

She pulled out her Soul Gem, the jewel glittering in the white light, and sedately shifted into her magical girl outfit. It wasn't that different from what she wore usually, longer and white, but that wasn't so important to her. The biggest distraction was the lack of the comforting weight of her buckler on her arm, a sensation she still hadn't gotten used to despite months to adjust to it.

Her actions roused Kyubey from its slumber, if the alien actually slept at all, and it was quick to leap to Homura's shoulder as she moved for the door. Wordlessly the duo left, light flicked off as Homura left the apartment before taking to the rooftops in the dwindling sunlight that painted the sky orange and purple.

She moved above the city at a determined pace, headed towards her pre-selected destination with all due speed, only passing concern given to those below. While Mami and Kyoko would doubtlessly be going on patrol, she had her own method of finding Wraith that she would be employing tonight.

Glancing down, she could see the surge of miasma and the people walking amidst it, a signal of the storm brewing about the city even now. Or perhaps just the prelude. It didn't match up to Walpurgisnacht in severity just yet. And her determination wasn't swayed as she went past the unsuspecting people below her, the normal people that Madoka had wanted to protect, her charges.

She refocused her attention, and sped onwards towards her destination then. The fastest way to make sure the people were safe was to get where she needed to go. Any losses in that time were regrettable, but unavoidable, and at least Mami and Kyoko would be on the beat as well.

Silent through the trip, the two soon arrived at her selected venue. It was a soccer stadium, empty at this point since there was no game tonight. And it was here she would put on a show of a different kind for her Goddess above.

As a magical girl it was simple to break into the stadium itself, and after passing through the empty tunnels and corridors she found herself standing at midfield, looking about the area. As expected, no one was present. Good. Kyubey hopped off her shoulder and took up a position some distance away, to observe what was about to happen.

Since winding up in this world, Homura had had to relearn how to fight. She could no longer stop time, nor produce an arsenal of guns. She had a bow, and a few other subtle differences to contend with. It had required her to change her combat style, to switch to some new method that didn't rely on temporal manipulation to be effective.

There was only one reason she could think of for the change, and that was her wish. While Witches had vanished, everything else had stayed as close to the same as possible, including wishes, with some exceptions. But then again, it made sense. Her wish an a paradox here, an impossibility. Madoka had never existed in corporeal form, she was a Goddess that transcended time and space. How could Homura go back to before they met, when not only had Madoka not existed in this world, but was also an omnipresent being?

Thus, the first part of her wish was invalidated, and her powers shifted with that. But she could still protect Madoka, her world, her ideals, here. She was her avatar, her emissary, her prophet, a harbinger of hope. And it was part of that new powerset that she used now.

She stood solemnly where she was, eyes closed as she clasped her Soul Gem between her hands, muttering indecipherable words under her breath. She tapped into her magic, gathered it, concentrated it, causing purple light to shine like a nimbus between interlaced fingers from the amount of magic in her Soul Gem now.

Then she reached further inside herself, and let her emotions well to the surface as she frowned. Regret, anger, sadness, loneliness, despair, the things she kept repressed that threatened her Soul Gem's purity and her own sanity with destruction, the things that tore at her heart every day. Now, she let them flow free with her magic.

Her hair whipped behind her, carried aloft by the wind formed from the excess magical power present, and bright purple filled her vision. All that energy built towards a critical mass as Homura used her powers, eyes glowing as her muttered prayer finished.

"Let there be light."

Her hands flew apart, Soul Gem hovering in midair, and it seemed as if she did as well as the pent up magical energy on display was released in a single burst. A shimmering wave of sparkling violet swept out, a pulse of power she felt ripple through her, that left her feeling drained in the aftermath. She quickly lost sight of her 'spell' though, as it swept past the confines of the stadium and into the city.

Her Soul Gem settled back down to the palm of her hand, and she sent it back to it's resting place. In exchange she produced a bow, black wood with a shimmering bowstring of purple, yet a mirror image of the one she knew Madoka wielded. Seeing it, knowing she was using Madoka's weapon, it made the two of them feel closer across the gulf of reality.

Bow ready, Homura turned to wait for the response to her attack. She took a deep breath to steady herself as she looked about the area once more, and she didn't have long to wait as the Wraith began to appear. One, two, a dozen, fifty, a hundred, cloaked white figures filled the stadium, drawn to the beacon of despair and power she had set off here.

She kept a calm expression, but even she found herself being intimidated by the amount of Wraith coming to her. Her grip on her bow tightened as she faced them down, unable to retreat from this fight as the Wraith surrounded her. There was no choice.

But even as she faced them, she swore she could feel a comforting presence beside her, one oh so familiar. "_You can do it Homura. I believe in you_." Those words were quiet, carried on the wind, but she knew that she wasn't imagining them. Even in this place and situation, Madoka stood by her, and it was moments like these that kept her sane, and supported her in the long night.

She nodded to herself, and Madoka, then didn't waste any more time. They had came to her call, and it would only be fair to welcome the arriving Wraith. She would not let Madoka down.

She strung an arrow to her bow and fired, a beam of light crossing the distance to punch through the nearest Wraith, destroying it in a single shot. That broke the silence as a mass groaning rose and the Wraith surged forward, a horde headed directly towards her with no distractions.

She fired again, quickly discarding her single fire method as unfeasible in this situation, instead launching three arrows at once, the the projectiles altering course in their flight path so each hit. Despite the apparent power of her attacks, it didn't drain much of her magic, a fact she supposed she had to thank Madoka for. Being the avatar of a metaphysical concept had it's benefits sometimes.

The Wraith struck back, and she swiftly leapt out of the way as beams of red energy came in from above, an attack she probably would have avoided even if she had had her buckler to block it. She landed in a roll and fired back as she came to a crouch, sniping one of the attacking Wraith on the upper levels of the stadium to reduce the assault aimed at her.

She jumped away again as the crowd of Wraith approached from ground level, her attacks ripping into them with almost minimal effort. But she found that even as she shot them, more just took their place. The main problem wasn't her ability to kill them, it was the fact that she couldn't kill them fast enough, it seemed.

Flashes of red light rained down, countered where possible with a returning flash of purple . But Homura focused more of her attention on the Wraith approaching, and even she was unable to hold off a large mass like that forever. This meant that she soon found herself having to avoid the swipes and slashes of close range strikes as well as those long range attacks.

That required an alteration of strategy, and her bow shifted to become a sword as she went on the attack once more, meeting phantom strikes with a spray of sparks as she danced amidst the mob of white and black figures. It was a much more difficult battle without her temporal manipulation powers, but she made do.

It was a strategy she pursued for a little bit, before pulling back to a more open area so she could get back to her archery, not much the worse for wear as she extracted herself from the crowd of Wraith. Her Soul Gem shone purple light, she had no serious injuries, and while the sky faded to black, she fought on with grit teeth.

Things were changing though, unexpectedly, and she found herself slowing as the miasma seemed to grab at her of it's own accord. Eyes narrowed with a grunt as she brushed the already present tendrils of mist away. This would be a serious issue, given how vital mobility was to her fighting style, especially against these odds. But she wouldn't be deterred.

So she fought, trios of arrows spearing out as more Grief Cubes clattered to the ground, the start of a blackish carpet. She moved across the soccer field, dodging attacks with all the skill in her repertoire, while also combating the slowing influence of the miasma

Landing after a quick vault to the seats above the field, she found herself facing the swarm, diminished but still heavily present, and yet they had halted their advance towards her. Something was off, and she worried about what that would be as she looked around attentively. And the answer quickly came as a harsh red glow illuminated her vision, no way to dodge, and she hurriedly whipped her wings up in a protective shield around her.

"Aah," she cried under the hammer blow of concentrated energy from all the Wraith there, heat radiating through to warm her face. It hurt, but she managed to hold up against the attack. She would not fall, not now.

So she marshaled her energy, wings glowing all the brighter as she forced her reserves into that, and with a growl of exertion she fought back against the attack. Her wings flared outwards in a shockwave of force that threw the Wraith back, also giving her an opening in the process.

And she took that opening, taking to the skies on her glowing wings. The consecutive attacks followed her as she spun in midair and dodged, a kaleidoscope of red bisecting the air as Homura returned them with her bow. In her motion she looked about and angled for a landing in one of the more open areas of the stadium, clearing out the remainder of the Wraith there with rapid shots before she landed in a crouch, wings swept out.

Rising, she noted much the same activity that had preceded the mass attack that came before, and prepared herself accordingly. But it didn't come. Instead a figure emerged from the shadows and miasma, wisps of white fading away to reveal a Wraith of a kind she hadn't seen before, and that certainly made her worry, beyond the natural reaction she had.

It was bigger, towering over the other Wraith that stood by it. It didn't wear a cloak but instead walked tall, proudly even, a wispy black sword like the Wraith's body itself in hand. In fact, that seemed to be most of it's form, a shifting blackness that resolved into focus for a few brief moments before fading again, a V shaped mask being worn instead of the neutral face mask that all Wraith wore.

The nearby Wraith moved back as the two of them eyed each other up, Homura not really looking forward to this fight. If Wraith represented the general despair of humanity, then this particular Wraith represented a leader, an exceptional person, a driving force that manifested itself in an exceptional Wraith. She'd known of this sort of thing, but this would be her first time fighting one alone.

She gave no prelude before attacking, not sparing the breath for some flashy proclamation as Sayaka, Kyoko, or Mami would have done. She just struck, and struck hard, her bowstring twanging as she launched an arrow at the larger Wraith.

She watched in surprise though as the arrow failed to connect, instead deflected by the weapon the Wraith wielded. She fired again, only for the same result to occur once more. Her foe advanced then as she fired off a trio this time, but that attack was dodged as the rest had been, though it was closer.

She jumped back on her toes as the black sword came forward in a rapid horizontal slash, slicing through the air like fine metal. Wings provided additional acceleration as she pulled back, firing at the same time.

She had to think, to come up with a strategy. This Wraith was fast enough to block her arrows, and she didn't know what other powers it might have. The rest of the Wraith were holding back for now, but that could change at any second. It was a dangerous situation, if that hadn't been clear before now.

So she surged in with renewed determination, bow shifted to a sword as she unleashed a barrage of calculated strikes, drawing on experience honed sword skills as the Wraith blocked in turn. Their blades met, sparks igniting from impact as Homura flew about it's head.

One hit landed, then another, but it seemed to have no effect on the Wraith as it fought on. She had to move and strike fast, for it quickly became apparent that her foe had a distinct strength advantage over herself. If they got in a pushing match, she knew she would lose.

She pulled back then dove in once more, not staying in one place for too long as she attacked again, slipping past it's guard to land another blow. She panted slightly, but was confident for the moment that she would defeat it, given time.

Such confidence quickly proved to be unwarranted. As she pulled back the Wraith lunged forward abruptly, sword slamming forward in an unexpected strike. She managed to dodge it, but not entirely, as the sword lopped off part of her right wing, the magic disrupted and dispelled. She grunted and came in for a landing, to resume the fight on the ground.

She moved on, arrows interspersed with sword attacks, springing and darting about in smooth motions. But the miasma clung at her more, and wore her down through increased exertion. It rendered her fighting style less viable, and it combined with the fact that the Wraith seemed to be adapting to her fighting style to just make this situation worse.

She went in to try and land another hit, only to be taken by surprise as her foe blocked before a fist punched forward, knocking the air out of her and sending her tumbling backwards as her stomach took the brunt of the blow.

"Uuf," she grunted, taking a few seconds to get her breath back as she recovered, to see the Wraith looming above her. The blade swung down at her in a heavy blow that she rolled out of the way of, though she received some shrapnel from the hole it carved in the ground beside her.

Rising, she sprang forward in quick steps to try and retake the initiative, but the Wraith shifted to the right, letting her stabbing sword sweep by, before it's sword hit her in return, throwing her into a concrete wall that shattered under the impact, the surface not quite the best brake.

Homura groaned, shaking her head as she pushed free and sent the pain away. No, she would not fall here, today. This was nothing compared to her earlier struggles. She got back on her feet, body protesting, yet ignored. She closed her eyes to bring her energy to bear once more as she focused it in her bow, while facing down the approaching Wraith.

The strung arrow glowed a nimbus of purple as Homura went into action once again, ready to end this at the first opportunity. The Wraith went to block, but Homura had anticipated this and acted on that, using her agility to weave around the block and use the Wraith's own sword as a springboard for an aerial jump.

"Too slow," she said stoically as she fired in a midair flip, overcharged arrow spearing into the Wraith's head dead on.

The Wraith roared, flailing about, and it's sword caught Homura with a glancing blow as she came down on the opposite side of the thing, just before it expired, Grief Cubes clattered to the ground as she landed with a thud, grasping at her side in the process, uniform and skin laid open with a gash as a parting gift.

There was no time for relief though as the other Wraith seemed to respond to the death of their leader, as it were, and noise filled the stadium. Willpower driving her on past the dull pain, while magic worked to stitch her body back together, she rose and strung her bow, ready to resume this battle. Kyubey had vanished a while ago, but she didn't mind. Better her end come to her alone, as she deserved.

Still, she would not go quietly, magic seeping away as she fired, and as she was struck in exchange by consecutive Wraith attacks. Her foes vanished in precise shots, but for all of those destroyed, she accrued burns, scratches, more wounds that inhibited her movement and fighting.

At last the end came, a flash of all engulfing red in her vision as a united barrage came at her once more, though slightly weaker than last time. She was cornered, pinned, drained, and yet she rose her wings to act as a slight shield while bracing for the inevitable.

Resigned, she looked up to the stars as she felt the protection of her wings give way under the attack. She wasn't sad, had no regrets that this was how it would come to an end. "Madoka, I'll coming," she muttered as pain flared through her entire form, before pink interposed itself between her and it, and then blackness.

_Madoka..._

* * *

_Beep-beep. Beep-beep. Beep-beep_

"U...Uh," Homura groaned as she stirred awake from what felt like an eternal slumber, a sensation she hadn't been expecting to say the least, given the circumstances she had been in before. But if she was somehow alive, then she supposed she would accept that.

Her eyes flickered open to see a white ceiling with occasionally flickering lights. The sight instinctively stirred a feeling of dread mixed with familiarity, tugging at her, and she sat up abruptly as she remembered why.

"No, no, this can't be happening," she muttered to herself as she looked about, composure breaking down in the process. It was a hospital room. The hospital room. The same one she ended up in whenever she reset time in the old cycles, the starting point for the month. But how could that be possible? The cycles were over, negated entirely, and she couldn't affect time anymore, so how could she be here?

Old patterns reasserted themselves and she moved to leave in as rapid a matter as possible, picking up her Soul Gem while noting that the pain she had previously felt was gone. But she couldn't focus on that. She needed information, knowledge, to figure out where she was, how she'd gotten here, and how she could fix this.

"Calm down Homura Akemi. You can relax, at least for a few minutes."

The voice came from nowhere, all the more confusing since she had been alone just moments ago, and Homura looked over to see another girl sitting at the side of her bed. She wore a primarily white dress with frilled ends, a gray sash with blue shield wrapped around her, a gray shirt beneath the white clothes and gray leggings as well, to go with her white shoes. Her eyes were blue, hair a pale greyish color. Her hat sported a white x on a blue background, a long veil hanging from the back, almost like a marching band hat.

At the sight, a taciturn expression snapped back into place in time with the memories of timelines past. "Oriko Mikuni," she said neutrally. "I take it you're responsible for this?"

Oriko gave her a pleasant smile, unperturbed by the accusation as it were. "It's a pleasure to see you as well," she replied. "And I am, after a fashion. You would have been dead otherwise."

Homura looked at her suspiciously, wondering what her game was this time. "Why?"

Oriko shrugged nonchalantly as she sat back in her chair. "Because I wanted to speak to you." She smirked then. "You were expecting Madoka I take it?"

Homura gave a slight nod, since that question was as obvious as any Oriko could have posed, and the other girl seemed to take some satisfaction in that. "She would have been here, but she allowed me to see you after I asked. After all, what's a few minutes with me compared to a possible eternity with her?"

Homura reluctantly ceded that argument, even if she didn't enjoy it. She clutched at the white blanket covering her and the bed as she shifted to face Oriko, to better give the other girl her attention, though it was hard to ignore the memories they had of her previous encounter. "So what did you want to say?"

"I wanted to apologize, since I know you're not one for bragging or otherwise ostentatious displays of superiority. You were right, I was wrong. I may have saved the world, but I doomed Mitakihara, and in the end, you changed everything," Oriko said, a surprise for Homura as she listened with a stunned expression. To hear someone so confident in herself and her goals apologizing, it was a shock.

So, she responded the only way she really knew how. "I didn't do it for you." She looked away, some small effort to hide the guilt of her failure in that anomalous timeline. While she might have succeeded in the end, Madoka was still gone, rendering all her sacrifice meaningless.

"I know," Oriko replied back just as simply. Silence fell across the room, the two of them sitting there held to their own thoughts, the only noise being that of the heart monitor beside the bed.

At last Oriko spoke once more. "Homura Akemi, why are you still alive?"

A spark of confusion lit up her visage as Homura addressed the random question, not quite sure if she had heard that correctly. "Hm?"

"Why are you alive," Oriko reiterated. "There are plenty of easier ways to go about reuniting with Madoka again. After all, Soul Gems are such fragile things. So why do you keep going rather than act on one of those options?"

Homura frowned, considering her answer, before realizing that as a dead person, Oriko already knew that her crazy stories were true, so she didn't have to hold back quite as much as she would for the others. "Because I owe it to Madoka to protect this world, since I couldn't protect her. I have to make sure her legacy endures."

For some reason Oriko chuckled aloud at that, a soft laugh, and Homura was quick to glare at her in return. "You really think you're serving her as you are? She didn't sacrifice herself for a machine that kills Wraith, she sacrificed herself for people, so they could live without fear, or sadness, or despair.

The glare deepened as Homura shot daggers at the other girl. "What would you know about it? You killed her, you have no right to judge me or what I do with my life."

Oriko frowned then as the two magical girls looked across the short distance at each other. "Yes, I did. And I died in the process. But you can't claim to be that much better than me. I mean, look at yourself." She ticked off fingers as she counted. "School, Wraith, deliberate isolation, and that seems to be about it. That's not a life. While I may not have suffered all you did, I do now that much."

"Because we aren't alive," Homura shot back, aware of the ironic connection between what she was saying, and the tired refrain she got from Sayaka at some point or other during the loops. "We exist to kill Wraith, singularly. So why waste the time and effort for little return?"

"Your Madoka would disagree," Oriko countered. "I seem to recall something about helping people, cooperation rather than fighting, working to make a better world, things like that. But with eight years of the same month in your head, I doubt I actually had to say as much."

Homura's fists trembled, struggling to resist the urge to unleash bodily harm on the dead person. She had to stay in calm, in control. Who knew how Oriko might try to manipulate her. "Because you know her so well."

Oriko sighed as she proceeded to point out the obvious. "I've been with her for eternity, since time doesn't have any application to the afterlife. I know her as well as you do at this point."

A huff of air expelled itself as Homura clamped down on her anger. "You may know her, but you didn't have to watch her die, see her suffering." She glanced down to her lap. "You don't have to live in a world without her."

That elicited another slight chuckle from Oriko, and the glare that had departed so recently returned in force. "My dear Homura, for one so astute you really are clueless aren't you," Oriko replied with a smirk. "Surely you've noticed the words of encouragement, the feeling like you're being watched, the warmth that comes from nowhere? You've never been alone, you just couldn't see her there."

"It's not the same." And in her opinion, it wasn't the same thing. But she wasn't about to spill every secret of her inner being to Oriko just now. She had more control than that. "And why do you care so much? What's your angle?"

"My 'angle' is peace, resolution. I was never evil, you should know that, just devoted to my goals, And now I intend to make amends for the acts I committed in pursuit of that. Which means helping you now."

Homura resisted growling or otherwise acting in irrational anger as she stayed where she was. "I don't require your assistance."

That prompted Oriko to shake her head, veil swishing behind her. "It would be a lot more convincing for you to say that if you weren't here. I don't recall suicidal tendencies being a major part of your personality."

Homura flinched. "It isn't that. You should know as well as anyone that you can only rely on yourself. And I'm done fighting fate, not when there's no point. She's gone and I couldn't stop her. So now she can decide my destiny."

"You know it doesn't work like that," Oriko replied swiftly. "The future isn't set in stone. It flows, alters. Your destiny is what you make of it. I think I have a right to say that, as someone who struggled against the future myself. That was the whole point of your cycles, wasn't it, to deny fate it's rightful outcome for your own ending?"

Homura refused to comment on that, instead turning to another question. "So what would you suggest?" She still didn't put much faith in Oriko, but decided to hear what she might offer as an opinion.

Oriko was quick to answer that as well, apparently having some suggestion ready at the time, making Homura wonder if she had manipulated the conversation in that way. "Simple. Stop existing and start living. Actively participate in the world that the Goddess has made. Move on."

Homura suppressed a double take as she listened to that answer. " You can't expect me to just forget everything that happened."

"I don't," Oriko replied. "I'm many things, but even I'm not quite that oblivious. But you've tied yourself to the past, to what happened to you, and at the same time you're ignoring everything that's currently going on around you. Madoka made this world so you wouldn't have to fight all the time, as well as to save all the magical girls from a fate worse than death. So you need to start accepting that."

That anger Homura had suppressed was rapidly being restored, much to her own dismay. "I can't," she said in turn. "I tried to but I can't. I accept this, but only because I have no way to change it. I can't forget what happened, and there's no point in trying to be something when I'm alone. Again."

The heart monitor sounded at an increased beat as they spoke, indicating Homura's current mood as her heart hurt, but both ignored that. "You're only alone because you choose to be. What about Mami Tomoe and Kyoko Sakura, or even Hitomi Shizuki? They would be your friend if you let them."

"How can I do that, knowing what I do about them, having seen what I've seen? I would rather be alone than be witness to their inevitable fall. I won't do that again."

Oriko sighed, shaking her head. "That isn't guaranteed. There are no Witches here to cause Mami to fall, though I grant overconfidence could still happen, and Kyoko will not be giving herself up in any self sacrificing gestures anytime soon, by all appearances. And the best way to prevent any of them falling would be to be an active influence in their lives, rather than leave them alone. Isn't that right?"

Much as she didn't like it, Homura would admit that Oriko had a point, a realization sparking in her mind. Had she been so blind that she couldn't see the obvious facts? This was a different universe, with different circumstances, so she shouldn't expect the things she usually knew to happen. It was a tad ironic, to say the least, but she was willing to consider that Oriko was telling the truth for once.

"Perhaps," she ceded, the only cession Oriko would get. She looked about the room before shifting the topic. "Is that all?"

Oriko hummed as she tilted her head in thought. "I suppose. Madoka will know if you choose to listen to me or not, so I'm not too worried about it."

If Madoka had indeed arranged this, then that would be true, and an immediate incentive in and of itself. If it was what Madoka wanted of her, then she had an obligation (in her mind) to try and do as requested, to move past what had happened and enjoy the world that Madoka had made for all of them. Maybe there could be more to her life than simply protecting the world after all.

"So, what do I do now," Homura asked as she rose from the bed with simple grace.

"Well, that's up to you," Oriko replied. "You can return to the world, continue to fight, live, suffer. Or you can move on, be with Madoka, Sayaka, all the other magical girls. It's your choice."

Homura followed Oriko's gesture as she pointed to normal hospital room door, and then to the door next to that that had appeared on the wall, bright light shining from behind it. She stepped up to the two, looking between them and incredibly torn at the decision presented to her. More than anything she wanted to open that door, to end her torment and be with Madoka at last.

But Madoka would want her to go on, to carry on her memory and fight for her. And if there was one thing Homura was incapable of doing, it was opposing Madoka's wishes. She was her one fatal flaw after all.

So reluctantly, her heart screaming at her in her chest, she moved for the plain hospital door, opening it slowly as she paused in the threshold, still unsure if this was what she should do. She'd spent eight years, four months, thirty days, fourteen hours, twenty eight minutes, and fifty six seconds struggling, didn't she deserve her reward?

As if sensing her thoughts. Oriko spoke up from where she was seated. "Giving up is easy," she said. "Living is hard. I don't think you're one to just quit like that. And you still make a difference, even if it doesn't seem like it." Oriko glanced away to her lap then. "You'll have more of an impact than I did at least."

Homura's expression widened in shock and surprise as she beheld Oriko in a new light. For a moment she considered their similarity, the relationship between the two of them. Both were extremely motivated and determined, though on parallel paths to opposing goals. She wanted to save Madoka, and Oriko wanted to save the world. Both wanted themselves to matter in the world, to make a difference in things, to have a purpose. While her methods were reprehensible, perhaps they were closer than Homura would like to admit.

"Goodbye Oriko Mikuni," she said, before stepping through the door. She consigned herself to suffering once more, but content with the knowledge that that was what Madoka wanted, and she faced it with a determined expression. For Madoka, nothing was too much.

"Thank you Homura Akemi," Oriko replied softly after the raven haired girl had gone, before she looked up to the ceiling and the sky beyond. "I've done what I can. The rest is up to you and her."

She wore a soft smile as the world faded to white around her, and she went to be with Kirika once more.

* * *

Homura awoke with a gasp and blurry vision, that shifting straight into a hacking cough as her lungs filled with dust from the small crater she found herself in. That was unexpected, to say the least.

She rose as her wings unfurled, and at the same time she noted that all the pain she had previously felt was gone, her Soul Gem restored to glittering purity, and she knew who was responsible for that. "Thank you Madoka," she muttered as she looked up to the sky where she knew Madoka watched.

And as she stood renewed, she felt a warmth at her side, and a whisper on the wind. "_You've done so much for all of us Homura, let me do this little bit for you."_

The corners of her mouth rose in a slight smile as she faced down the Wraith, her bow held confidently with restored strength. Wind whipped about, the Wraith undaunted in turn with her apparent resurgence.

But she wasn't about to do the same old thing again, not with the numbers against her. And with her powers replenished, it opened up a lot of options for her. And she availed herself of one of those options, to end this fight in a single strike.

The arrow of light she held intensified in brilliance as she fed power into it, replicating an attack she'd seen so many times. Glyphs traced themselves in front of her, magic fed into it as she focused her concentration.

In a moment she fired, barb leaping forward to meet the glyph in the air. As it pass through, the arrow split and multiplied, a storm of light spewing out to slam into the crowd of Wraith before her, smiting them in mass numbers as a hail of power flared out like the one that she had seen destroy Walpurgisnacht before.

The sound of fizzing water filled the stadium as the Wraith were killed and dissolved into nothingness, quickly replaced by a sound similar to falling glass as Grief Cubes landed on the ground at the same time. The area rapidly cleared of Wraith, she sent away her bow and stepped forward to pick up a Grief Cube, weighing it in her hand as she looked down at it.

"Hey, I thought you said she was in trouble." Another voice spoke out in the silence, drawing Homura's attention away and up, where she could see a figure in red and another figure in yellow standing near the top of the stadium, both of them looking down at her.

_When I departed, Homura Akemi was in an untenable position. She seems to have resolved that in my absence, though I don't know how,_ Kyubey replied as it emerged from concealment nearby.

Homura supposed she shouldn't have been surprised that Kyubey had gone to bring reinforcements for her. While not caring about her life in particular, it did care about it's energy quota, and her dying would put that in jeopardy. She just had to make a slightly sarcastic comment to herself about their timing though.

"Be that as it may, it's good to see that our assistance wasn't required after all," Mami said as she descended towards ground level, Homura shifting to meet the two at the bottom of the steps.

Stepping down behind her, Kyoko looked around the stadium and the stoic girl watched as her jaw dropped. "I knew it! Homura was fight all the Wraith herself, go figure." Angrily, she kicked a nearby Grief Cube, practically punting it out of the area.

"I apologize for causing you to waste your time," Homura commented as Mami and Kyoko reached her, the latter of the two looking none too pleased at the moment. "Take as many Grief Cubes as you need."

"Don't mind if I do." Kyoko didn't waste any time then, moving to collect them in as rapid a fashion as she could, while grumbling under her breath about how Homura had cheated her out of a good fight.

Watching her do that, Mami turned back to Homura after a few seconds. "Are you alright," she asked, characteristic concern in her tone. "Kyubey made your situation sound desperate."

Homura nodded, having expected that. "I'm fine. It was a tense situation for a few moments, but I handled it." It wasn't quite the truth, but physically she was fine. She then asked the same question of Mami in turn.

"I am well enough," Mami admitted, but Homura could tell that something was different about her, though she didn't know what it was nor what had prompted it. That was a discussion that would wait for a later time, if Mami chose to talk about it.

"Come on," Kyoko called from a few rows up, moving further away from them. "These Grief Cubes aren't gonna pick themselves up."

"Right," Mami agreed, getting to doing that as well, with Homura quickly joining the two of them. There were enough Grief Cubes there to last them a long time, though they would probably continue to patrol regardless of that. It was their duty after all.

Picking up part of her reward, Homura found her mind drifting back to the encounter that had just happened. Seeing Oriko again, having a brush with Madoka, and the temptation of being able to join her at last, it held her attention like nothing else. She'd made her choice, but had she made the right one? She could only hope.

Eventually they finished with the necessary work of collecting Grief Cubes, congregating back at the entrance of the stadium, and all of them weighed down by the amount of Grief Cubes they had. "Well, I think we can call it a night. I know I don't plan on doing anything else," Kyoko commented as she met them.

Glancing to the nighttime sky, Mami nodded her agreement. "With the amount of Wraith we've destroyed in total, that should be a majority in the city. So yes, I believe that we can end our patrol for the night."

"Sweet. Well then, I'm off. I've got a bag full of candy with my name on it, and after what happened tonight I'm looking forward to it. Don't wanna keep it waiting," Kyoko replied as she moved off in the general direction of Mami's apartment.

Watching her go, Mami shifted to face Homura, twin drills bouncing with the move of her head. "Are you going to return to your home, Homura? I was thinking we could celebrate the rest of the holiday together, and I'd really like it if you joined us." Sincerity was in her tone, and her hands were clasped in front of her, a slight plea in her expression.

Homura stopped, thinking on her options as Mami stood waiting. She had been considering going on with her patrol, to pick up the stragglers and and keep from otherwise wasting her time. Before she refused though, she remembered what had just happened, and the message she had gotten from Oriko.

"Alright," she agreed at last, with a nod to emphasize the point.

"Excellent," Mami replied, practically lighting up at the approval of the raven haired girl, having expected her to decline in spite of her offer. "I prepared a cake and tea for us, so we should probably go before Kyoko eats it all."

She looked down to Kyubey, who took the opportunity to jump onto her shoulder before she moved off as well, assuming Homura would follow.

And that Homura did, quietly taking up position behind Mami as they walked back through the darkened city. As she moved, she glanced up to the sky, grateful for what had happened to her just now. She didn't know what the future would hold, but at least she'd been given the chance. And that was all she needed.


End file.
